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text sizeUnder-the-table payments mostly detected in tourism and construction
Bulgarian Banks Accused of Money Laundering
BIA Chairman Bozhidar Danev calls for an audit of the money with which the bank clients pay off their loans
"The grey economy sector in Bulgaria spreads to twenty or thirty-five percent. The biggest under-the-table payments are detected in the sectors of construction, tourism, agriculture and services, including repair works, healthcare and private education," reads a report of the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD), which was presented yesterday at a round table, dedicated to the fight against grey economy. The research also shows that the sectors of tobacco products and alcohol production, fuels and transportation also show tendencies for going grey.
"The banks in Bulgaria are turning into money laundering institutions. The crediting institutions support the grey economy, because it lowers the risk of bad credits," Bozhidar Danev, Chairman of the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA), said yesterday.
Mr. Danev took part in a forum dedicated to the fight against grey economy at the Sofia's Sheraton Hotel Balkan, organized by the CSD. Danev said that auditors should check the funds, with which bank loans were paid off.
"Of all measures, with which we try to restrict grey economy, the taxation reform has so far yielded the greatest effect," Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski said.
The CSD experts calculated that Bulgaria's economy loses 6.7 billion euro from the unemployed and those Bulgarians who work abroad; 1,700,000 Bulgarians aged between 15 and 64 are unemployed, working in grey economy sector or abroad.
If these people were regularly employed, Bulgaria's economy would be boosted with 6.7 billion euro, or another 23% added to the country's GDP for 2007.
Fourteen percent of the employed Bulgarians admit they have been paid under the table. Enterprises have evaded taxation on one fifth of their annual turnover.
Yuliana Oncheva
"The banks in Bulgaria are turning into money laundering institutions. The crediting institutions support the grey economy, because it lowers the risk of bad credits," Bozhidar Danev, Chairman of the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA), said yesterday.
Mr. Danev took part in a forum dedicated to the fight against grey economy at the Sofia's Sheraton Hotel Balkan, organized by the CSD. Danev said that auditors should check the funds, with which bank loans were paid off.
"Of all measures, with which we try to restrict grey economy, the taxation reform has so far yielded the greatest effect," Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski said.
The CSD experts calculated that Bulgaria's economy loses 6.7 billion euro from the unemployed and those Bulgarians who work abroad; 1,700,000 Bulgarians aged between 15 and 64 are unemployed, working in grey economy sector or abroad.
If these people were regularly employed, Bulgaria's economy would be boosted with 6.7 billion euro, or another 23% added to the country's GDP for 2007.
Fourteen percent of the employed Bulgarians admit they have been paid under the table. Enterprises have evaded taxation on one fifth of their annual turnover.
Yuliana Oncheva
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