The draft state budget for 2026 will be discussed with business and unions at a meeting of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation on June 29, "Horizont" learned.
Before that - on June 26, the draft budgets of the State Social Insurance Fund and the National Health Insurance Fund will be considered in the Supervisory Boards of both institutions.
From the Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions and the Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions "Podkrepa" have already announced that their priority is the public sector income policy and have opposed mechanical cuts in salary and social security costs by 10 percent.
If cuts are resorted to, they should be made sensibly, commented in connection with the preparation of the state budget the chief economist of the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour Atanas Katsarchev:
"And it is not as proposed - 10%. And the second thing that worries people the most - they expect not to cut their salaries, but to update them according to inflation. So we will maintain these two main demands all the time. We have neither policies, nor any intentions, nor specific numbers, i.e. I expect the government to propose options.
A few days ago, Prime Minister Rumen Radev met with the leadership of the Confederation of Bulgarian Trade Unions (CITUB) and the union's first topic was the 2026 budget and the public sector income policy.
The CITUB is categorical that fiscal consolidation cannot and should not be carried out at the expense of workers and that the budget framework must guarantee a predictable income policy, adequate financing of public systems and preservation of social stability. The CITUB also spoke out against a mechanical reduction in wages and social security costs by 10 percent, arguing that it is not clear how this will be implemented in sectors with average salaries of around 1,000 euros and that there is a shortage of personnel.
Both unions insist on increasing or eliminating the maximum social security income and introducing a non-taxable minimum.
Before the relevant parliamentary committee, Social Minister Natalia Efremova also indicated that the most important and shortest-term priority is the finalization of the work on the 2026 budget and that the income criteria for access to family benefits for children will be updated:
"In connection with the increase in the minimum wage, it is also quite natural to increase income. The old income criteria are a bit lagging behind and we are currently seeing some dropout of families who have previously had access to these family benefits."