The extended budget largely ties the hands of new policies and reforms. One of the first things the new government must do is adopt and prepare a new budget. This was commented on in the studio of “Presechna tochka” on Nova TV by economist Georgi Angelov.
He said that there is also a short deadline until August, when the European funds under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan must be unlocked, unfrozen and absorbed. "Which is again related to the budget, because if we fail to absorb them, we will not receive the money or we will have to return part of it. Unlocking these EU funds can greatly help the new budget, but it can also worsen it if we fail to unlock them," said the economist, adding that these are two tasks that must be carried out simultaneously and in a very short time frame.
According to him, the reported data for the first three months show that the budget deficit continues to grow at a high rate. "1.5 billion euros in just three months - this is money that is poured into the economy without reforms, which only leads to overheating and inflationary pressure," Angelov said.
He commented that the government can adopt a budget, control the deficit and the debts it takes on in order to have a real effect within the current year. In his words, we should now see concrete measures on how the sectors will be reformed to be more efficient.
"If we have a government with a medium-term mandate, it can also take on long-term issues, such as economic growth, labor productivity, quality of education, the return of Bulgarians who emigrated abroad. If we can unclog these structural problems, which will increase economic growth sustainably, and not based on loans and deficits," Angelov also said.