The World Bank Is Conducting A Survey To Assess The Effect of COVID-19 on Bulgarian Companies and Help The Government Design Recovery Policies
Bulgarian companies of all sizes are invited to take part in a special COVID-19 Business Pulse online survey initiated by the World Bank office in the country. The end result of this research will be an analysis that aims to help the local government design the right crisis support and recovery policies in alignment with what the business really needs. The survey is conducted by local agency Alpha Research by phone and is supported by the Ministry of Economy, Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion Agency and the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce. A special online module was developed to be filled by any owner of a company in the country. The survey could be found here and it takes about 10 minutes. The deadline for filling in the survey is the 10th of June 10.
The World Bank’s Business Pulse survey aims at better understanding the impact of pandemic on Bulgarian economy and enterprises. Similar surveys are conducted in about 45 countries worldwide, including Croatia, Romania, and Poland. The results will be used for benchmarking and policy advice. The research will also help governments to track the recovery process of the economies.
“The common methodology of the survey allows for capturing different country examples, which could be analyzed to inform policymakers in designing policy interventions targeting firms to fasten recovery”, said Anwar Aridi, Senior Private Sector Specialist at the Finance, Competitiveness, and Innovation Global Practice of the World Bank Europe and Central Asia region. There will be several rounds of the survey that will allow also to monitor the development of the situation and the effectiveness of applied measures at the different stages of the pandemic.
What is the World Bank Group doing?
With 189 member countries, staff from more than 170 countries, and offices in over 130 locations, the World Bank Group is a global organization with a common mission. The Group consists of five institutions working for sustainable solutions that reduce poverty and build shared prosperity in developing countries.
The World Bank itself as an organization is active in two major directions: it acts as kind of a consultant providing governments with policy advisory, typically for free, and it also provides loans at lower than the market prices, aimed at supporting recovery and development processes.
Since the opening of its office more than 28 years ago, the World Bank has developed a sound partnership with Bulgaria. In its reform efforts, Bulgaria has chosen to engage the World Bank in selective areas of the development agenda. The Government, in its partnership with the World Bank Group (WBG), is promoting policies to address the capacity gap between institutions and to improve service delivery. The partnership with Bulgaria is characterized by knowledge and advisory services, provided through Reimbursable Advisory Service (RAS) arrangements and supported by EU funding.
