This is not an excuse and an attempt to shift the blame to the previous government, but a realistic assessment of revenues and expenditures. The money is either there or there is not, and currently there is no money in the state treasury. This was said in the program "Panorama" on BNT by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Galab Donev in connection with the information announced by the authorities about the difficult state of state finances.
Revenues cannot catch up with expenses and that is why this deficit is being generated. The deficit with which the 2026 budget is being prepared is 7.4%. There is no way to make a budget without analyzing the real state of finances and whether revenues can cover the growing costs, said Donev.
We are not looking for short-term measures, we must look for long-term measures. That is why we are not in a hurry to raise taxes. We will look for measures that will lead to a slowdown in wage growth. There will be no freezing of incomes for social payments and pensions, the Finance Minister pointed out.
We want a balanced budget, but what is the reality and whether it can be achieved is another question. We will take such measures to suppress the expenditure side of the budget, to find measures that will guarantee the payment of salaries, pensions and social payments through revenues. We are determined to do everything possible to improve the financial situation of the state, emphasized Galab Donev.
These measures must be implemented in the next few months. If we do not propose measures, we will have to implement those proposed by the European Commission, due to the excessive deficit procedure. Therefore, we will work to propose and implement such measures, which are consulted with the unions and employers' organizations, and with the parliamentary parties, and these measures will lead to the budget being brought to a 5% deficit, and then below 3%, the Minister of Finance also said.