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Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.
He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.
In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.
Global Real Estate Project
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Hungarian miracle gone
Approximately two years ago we reminded that the foreign public debt was skyrocketing since early 1990s. It was then reaching $66 billion; now it's over $143 billion and is still rising; despite the EU financial aid it may get completely out of control. The debt now isn't only heavier, serving the debt has become for the last two years more difficult with the interest rates in both Europe and North America, the leading financial centers, gone up. A certain miracle is that right now the interest rates are going down in North America, and maybe soon will follow in Europe too. But let's repeat ourselves, financial salvation that needs, as a prerequisite, falling interests abroad is hardly a sound financial plan at all. Once the rates are up again Hungary will have to face their consequences. Political instability in Hungary is only to make the things worse by paralyzing the government as an agent of solution and turning it into a part of the problem. A month ago the government of Ferenc Gyurcsany lost decisively a referendum on medical co-payments, and on tuition fees for post-secondary education. After a full generation of post-communist reforms, the population just refuses to pay any higher social cost as compensation for the governmental mismanagement. Looking at the budget numbers it's hard to believe that the population won't pay the huge debt one way or another, either by increased taxes and fees, or by reduced public services, or by higher inflation. The mass consumption in 2007 has already begun to suffer, and the forecasts for 2008 don't look any better. The 'miracle' we spoke earlier is in fact a double-edged sword. It's making now easier for Hungary to pay the interests on its huge foreign debt, but at the same time it's making more difficult for the foreign investors to look at Hungary as any other emerging market as a risk-free zone. If the real estate market is to be considered as a barometer, the foreign investments are down without any short-term prospective for growth as in the good old times. The price levels in Budapest are, no doubt, high by the East European standards, but the double-digit growth that we monitored just some years ago is already gone.
Hungary country profile: --------------------
See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Hungary.
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