Finance Minister Galab Donev commented to the deputies in today's blitz control in the National Assembly what the budget deficit will be at the end of the year.
According to him, the deficit will be fulfilled to the set amount of 5.7%, and the fifth payment under the Recovery and Sustainability Plan (RSP) is not expected to have an impact on the set budget deficit.
„Yes, yesterday the data on the budget execution as of September 2026 were released. Yes, 3.8 billion is the accumulated deficit for the nine months of the year, which is 2.8% of the country's GDP. It is not something new to observe such a deficit at this stage. Indeed, the deficit for this year is record and it is due to the policies that have been pursued for years. Policies with which we accept long-term expenses, without being secured with revenue sources that would guarantee the long-term receipt of these revenues.“
“The budget is planned in such a way that the deficit of 5.7% is real and it will be achieved. This is not the government's desire, but this is the real state of state finances, which was reached after the unreasonable policies adopted for years before. Now we are reaping the fruits of all this, accepted as solutions“, Donev answered another question.
The Finance Minister added that pressure on the expenditure side of the budget is also exerted by the expenses on the projects under the Public Investment Program and the Municipal Investment Program. This year, 1.1 billion euros are planned to be paid under the investment program for municipalities and 3.8 billion euros under the PVP.
Donev recalled the advance tax paid by banks in the amount of 1 billion leva and the advance interim dividend paid by state-owned enterprises, emphasizing that this has an impact on the state of public finances this year and will continue to have an impact in the next two years. He added that contracts for commissioned work with construction companies in the field of current repair and maintenance of roads, road infrastructure and winter cleaning of roads are about to be concluded, and these costs will be an additional 450 million euros above the set 5.7 percent deficit.