* PM hopes to raise pay of govt officials instead
* Says own measure was populist
SOFIA, March 8 (Reuters) – Senior Bulgarian government
officials have returned bonuses worth more than 600,000 levs
($402,500) after a public outcry and the threat of dismissal.
Prime Minister Boiko Borisov last month promised to sack any
senior official who took bonuses during the country’s economic
downturn unless they returned them or donated them to charity.
His order applied to ministers, their deputies, heads of
political cabinets and regional governors.
Only one official at the environment ministry declined to
return his bonus and was dismissed.
The bonuses had caused real anger in a country which has the
lowest gross domestic product per capita of any European Union
member state and where the average salary is just 700 levs
($470) per month.
On Thursday, Borisov said he was glad his threat had been
taken seriously. But he appeared to criticise his original
decision, saying he had pandered to populist sentiment.
Source: Chicagotribune.com
