hief Todor Zhivkov presented a far-reaching program of steps to be
taken, starting in 1973, to improve the standard of living. To implement
the decisions of the plenum over the long run, the Commission on the
Living Standard was established under prominent Bulgarian Communist
Party (BKP--see Glossary) leadership.

As envisaged by the plenum, the standard of living will be raised by
pursuing a three-pronged policy: gradually increasing wages; keeping
prices stable; and making available an adequate supply of consumer goods
and services, including luxury goods and services to satisfy the demand
of those who are willing to pay the higher price. In the past, luxury
goods and services have been considered superfluous and undesirable in
an egalitarian socialist country. Higher incomes and exposure to the
living standards in other Eastern European and Western European
countries, however, have created pressure for more than just the
satisfaction of basic needs. According to some government officials,
Bulgarians are no longer satisfied with just any washing machine or
electric appliance; they want the latest automatic model and are willing
to pay for it.

In the program for increasing wages, special attention will be paid to
narrowing the gap between incomes of cooperative peasants and those of
workers. In the mid-1950s a cooperative peasant's income was only 60
percent of a worker's income. By 1971 the peasant's income had increased
to 85 percent of that of a worker, but this amount was still considered
too low by the government. To accelerate the growth of peasants'
incomes, a nontaxable minimum income was to be introduced in 1973, and
the same system of income tax was to cover both peasants and workers.
The system of remuneration on cooperative farms was to be made the same
as that on state farms, where agricultural workers are classed as
workers, not as farmers. Fringe benefits, such as pensions and
supplements for children, were also to be brought into line with those
of workers by 1975.

Consumption

According to official figures, consumption has grown steadily since the
early 1960s, in spite of continued shortages of some goods. As incomes
rose and consumer goods and services became more readily available, a
greater percentage of household budgets was being spent on them. All
segments of the population spent a greater share of their income in 1971
on household equipment and on cultural and educational pursuits, which