Economic woes erode support for Bulgaria govt

Fears of further economic difficulties hit the popularity of Bulgaria's GERB in July, a year after the centre-right party won an election a year ago on promises to battle a deep recession, a survey showed on Monday.
Support for GERB, led by Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, stood at 33% in July, down two percentage points from June, an opinion poll by Gallup International of 993 people said.
The economic crisis, which has impacted hard the European Union's poorest country, expected spending cuts and high jobless rates have eaten away GERB's popularity since last July when it won 39.7% of the vote in the parliamentary election.
Indecision over carrying out reforms in healthcare and the pension system also played a role in falling support.
Backing for the opposition Socialists, who led the previous government, edged up to 16.1% in July from 14% in June, the poll conducted in the first half of the month showed.
The government's rightist allies — the nationalist Attack and the Blue Coalition — saw a slight rise in support by 2.2 and one percentage points to 4.2 and 2.0%, respectively.
Some 32% of respondents said they would not vote. The next election is due in 2013.