Bulgarian informal ''grey'' economy is on the rise

The informal sector of the Bulgarian economy has increased in 2013, Standart daily reports citing an analysis of the Center for the Study of Democracy.

Though back in 2011-2012 there was progress in the cope against the informal economy because of punitive measures promoted in the collection of revenue, but this year, the above progress got interrupted, the CED report says.

According to the estimates of the institution, the losses from unpaid contributions amount to BGN 245.6 million.

Besides the financial harm, grey economy is slowing down the growth of tax revenues, analyst Martin Tsanov warned.

This September, Bulgaria's growth rate was less than 1 % annually. As a comparison: in September 2011 the increase was 11% , while in September 2012 it amounted to 7.89% .

According to the European Commission, the losses of the Bulgarian state form the non-payment of VAT amounted to BGN 1.2 billion in 2011.

Adapted from Standartnews