Bulgaria “beats” the Netherlands and Belgium in The Economist ranking

Bulgaria is ahead of countries, such as the Netherlands and Belgium, in the "Economic Pentathlon" - a ranking done by the authoritative publication The Economist. Similar to an Olympic Games tally, the magazine awards the countries of the European Union with gold, silver and bronze medals in five categories - demand, debt, demography, decarbonisation and decoupling from authoritarian economies.

Bulgaria received one gold, two silver and two bronze medals. The gold distinction is in the “gross debt” category (this includes liabilities of the government, businesses, households and banks). That indicator has been a big boost for the country's rating and economic forecasts for years. Bulgaria has the second lowest ratio of debt to gross domestic product (GDP) among the member states of the European Union.

The Economist placed Bulgaria first among all EU member countries when it comes to having low debt-servicing costs. The publication warns that the increase in interest rates will hit countries with larger debts more severely, and it therefore accords a special place to the success of Bulgaria, which has maintained a debt-to-GDP ratio below 30%.

The overall champion is Ireland. In the "demand" category, the ranking puts Finland in the first place; in the "demography" indicator, Ireland is also the leader, in terms of "decarbonization", Cyprus takes the top spot, and the share of total trade with economies governed by autocratic regimes is the lowest in Luxembourg.

Tough years ahead

The publication predicts that Europe's economies are in for troubled years ahead. It highlights that Germany is in state of recession and inflation in the eurozone is receding more slowly than expected. Despite all this, not all countries are equally affected, and their performances are different on the relevant indicators. Thus, in Austria annual inflation is still 5.8%, while in Greece it has fallen to 2.4%, very close to the ECB's target of 2%. For this reason, the main interest rate of the European Central Bank may soon end up being too low for some and too high for others.