Statement on the Occasion of the 20th Anniversary of Bulgaria Economic Forum

By
Prof. Dr. Drs. h.c. Steve H. Hanke
The Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland (USA)

It gives me great pleasure to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Bulgaria Economic Forum with its founders, its Chairman George Tabakov, the Forum’s staff, and friends. I have had the pleasure of being associated as an Honorable Member of the Forum since its inception.

The most important post‐communist Bulgarian event was the installation of the currency board in July 1997. I am proud to say that as the President’s adviser, I designed the system and had a hand in its implementation.

One reason for the Currency Board’s success is that the Bulgarian public understood why the system worked, and why it delivered Bulgaria from the chaos of hyperinflation, which peaked at a monthly rate of 242% in February 1997. And this is where the Bulgarian Economic Forum enters the picture. The Forum provided an important venue for the dissemination of information about the benefits of the new
currency board. This proved to be a vital element in the introduction and success of the Bulgaria’s greatest single achievement in the post‐communist era.

My thanks and best wishes to the Bulgarian Economic Forum.

4 December 2017
Baltimore

Prof. Dr. Drs. h.c. Steve H. Hanke
The Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland (USA)

• Adviser to the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, 1997‐2002
• Honorable Member – Bulgarian Economic Forum
• Doctorate, Honoris Causa – Bulgarian Academy of Science
• Doctorate, Honoris Causa – Varna Free University “Chernorizets Hrabar”