The new national budget comes into effect today. It envisages a deficit of 1 billion 100 million Leva, even though last year the treasury ended the year with a surplus of close to 800 million Leva.
According to the parametres of the 2018 budget, the state will only be able to take out a loan from the domestic market which cannot exceed 1 billion Leva which will only be used for:
„Repayments and the net funding will remain negative. In the coming year we shall pay off 600 million more debts,” explained Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov.
The past two years have seen the planning of a budget deficit, though the year ended in surplus. There is a deficit planned for 2018 too because the budget: “On the expenditure side looks to the young, takes care, albeit not always sufficiently, of the people who cannot take care of themselves, of the elderly and without taking away any of the assets – of the people who create wealth.”
More money has been earmarked for education, for healthcare, social activities, the Interior Ministry, for defence. Addressing all those demanding more funding, Minister Goranov said:
“We must get used to the idea that we must cut our coat according to our cloth.”
The budget is criticized most of all for failing to create buffers against the future overheating of the economy, and that it is not used to put in place vital reforms in a number of sectors.
EU energy ministers are meeting in Luxembourg to discuss the energy sector's contribution to the EU's competitiveness, wholesale electricity prices and winter preparedness. At the request of Greece, supported by Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia,..
BGN 1 billion (EUR 510 million) under the Strategic Plan for Agriculture and Rural Development 2023-2027 will be distributed between municipalities in Bulgaria in December 2024, said caretaker Minister of Agriculture and Food Georgi Tahov at the..
The remaining BGN 125 million (EUR 63.9 million) under the so-called ''Ukrainian aid'' will be paid by the end of November, caretaker Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance Lyudmila Petkova told journalists after a meeting with representatives of the..
We are moving towards the option of not having a quickly adopted budget for 2025, Lachezar Bogdanov, chief economist from the Institute..
Bilateral relations between Bulgaria and Argentina have received a new impetus for development following the visit of an Argentine delegation from the..
If the political crisis continues, the lost benefits will reach a threshold after which the Bulgarian business will begin to lose competitiveness due to..
+359 2 9336 661