The 2027 Budget is not starting from scratch, and the legacy is like a heavy truck with failed brakes hurtling down the slope towards the abyss, which we must stop and bring back up the slope. The most important thing is to change the trajectory leading us towards the abyss and create conditions for accelerated and sustainable economic growth. Prime Minister Rumen Radev said this at the University of National and World Economy (UNWE) during the official presentation of the draft law on the state budget of the Republic of Bulgaria for 2027.
The prime minister pointed to the “generous” bequest from previous governments, amounting to nearly 4 billion euros in unpaid funds and interest, which the current cabinet must deal with while simultaneously achieving difficult balances: between an excessive deficit and the need to curb spending on the one hand, and, on the other, preserving social support and investment in areas from which the state’s fastest economic development is expected.
The prime minister highlighted the three audits by the Bulgarian National Audit Office, which are clear evidence of the heavy financial legacy left by previous governments – thousands of invoices, payment certificates, contracts and protocols. The opposition tried to obscure all this with crisis PR, using a scrap of paper, an anonymous note, a sheet without a signature, stamp, or incoming and outgoing reference number. “They turned it into an incredible hysteria in the public sphere, seized control of all the media and extremely urgently killed the three reports of the National Audit Office,” Radev said.
At the same time, confirmation of the weak budget discipline in previous years also came from “Eurostat”. The statistical office of the European Union has already verified a deficit on an accrual basis of 4% for 2025. Prime Minister Radev also pointed to the rapidly growing national debt and spending that has surpassed the threshold of 40% of gross domestic product.
There are also data from the past four years indicating a decline in industrial production and foreign investment. Alongside this, the prime minister recalled that the current calls for cutting spending and reducing the administration are coming precisely from the people who failed to do so over the years, despite having the opportunity. “The budget is not only about politics; the budget is also a matter of morals for everyone who wants to engage in politics and does so,” Radev stressed.
Prime Minister Rumen Radev said that the 2027 Budget sets out the vision for the country’s development, the government’s priorities and policies, as well as the main goal – for Bulgarians to live better and more securely.
“We must restore the health of public finances while at the same time strengthening social support. We must raise incomes because inflation is real. We cannot fail to invest in strategic sectors – education, healthcare, defence, innovation, culture and sport. We must rapidly develop infrastructure, because without it there can be no functioning economy. We must stimulate economic growth and continue with digitalisation,” Rumen Radev said. The prime minister also stressed the need to reduce the deficit below 3%, so that the debt can also start declining in the coming years.