Eurostat expert team was on a two-day mission in the National Statistical Institute, to assess the reliability of the data on the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP). Among the main topics of discussion were specific issues related to HICP data; the methodology for energy products in Bulgaria; the methodology for telecommunications services; specifics issues related to the house price indices, and others. Representatives of the Bulgarian National Bank and the Ministry of Finance also participated in the meeting as observers.
The Eurostat mission has been planned for a long time and was announced as far back as the end of March 2024 by the President of the NSI Assoc. Prof. Atanas Atanasov, PhD at a hearing in the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria. Then, he assured the Members of Parliament that the NSI strictly adheres to the European Statistics Code of Practice and the quality of the data is assessed under 84 different indicators. During the mission, Assoc. Prof. Atanasov had a meeting with the experts from Eurostat, during which they informed him about the purpose of the visit and gave a positive evaluation of the NSI’s work.
“We thank you for holding this visit at an important moment for Bulgaria in light of the efforts to soon join the Eurozone. The guidelines that were formulated during the discussions will help us to concentrate our efforts in the more important areas”, pointed out the Deputy President of the NSI, Svilen Kolev, PhD, who headed the NSI team during the mission. The Eurostat experts expressed gratitude to their Bulgarian colleagues for preparing the answers to the questions they had asked in advance of the mission.
The assessment is carried out according to a uniform methodology for all countries and includes an analysis of the list of sources and methods used in the production of HICP and meetings with the experts from the respective country, during which in-depth discussions are held. Eurostat communicates the results of the compliance monitoring by publishing reports on its website and tracks the implementation of the set requirements and recommendations made.
