This budget is preparing treats for some, and mischief for others. The treats are for the state administration, and the mischief is for those working in the private sector.
This was stated by economist Georgi Vuldjev in the program "From the Day" on BNT. His colleague Petar Ganev was also a guest, and the two commented on the topic of the draft budget for 2026.
"Pensions and salaries in the budget sector are growing steadily and there is nothing to stabilize there. Of course, I exclude some sectors, such as nurses and young doctors, but in the other state sectors there is a salary increase of 40-50%. The most insane demands in this budget must be stopped. Those who work and pay their taxes honestly should not be hit," said Ganev.
"The budget's problems are in the expenditure side. That's why a soft consolidation is needed. There needs to be a review of the growth of budget salaries. The minimum wage should start growing according to some formula. Every normal person knows that their salary doesn't just go up. There needs to be productivity in order for your salary to go up. The growth of government salaries also leads to an increase in inflation," Vuldjev was categorical.
"There needs to be measures, because the deficit will really go up to 7-8%. Where you raised pensions and salaries drastically, now you won't raise them. You will only raise them where there is some lag. Politicians need to understand that a budget crisis brings down governments. The easiest way for a government to fall is to get into a budget crisis. Consolidation leads to stable management. Tax reform proposals can also lead to a decline in revenues. A flat tax leads to the largest budget revenues. You cannot punish workers by increasing social security contributions. There is still time and I hope that politicians will take the right measures. We need a budget that covers promises to the truly socially disadvantaged and to provide incentives to private business," added Petar Ganev.
"The fiscal crisis is a greater political risk than not raising someone's salary. There is no global crisis at the moment and politicians have nothing to justify themselves with. We have made these mistakes ourselves and we must fix them ourselves," added Georgi Vuldjev.