Former Economy Minister Nikolay Vasilev sharply criticised the draft 2027 budget and warned that Bulgaria is heading towards another sharp increase in public debt. He commented on the financial framework on bTV’s “Face to Face” programme.
One of the reasons for his criticism was the decision to present the budget at the University of National and World Economy (UNWE) rather than in the National Assembly. “The cabinet should have brought a millstone and shown it to the students,” Vasilev said. In his words, the young people who will one day become decision-makers, leaders and taxpayers will have to pay off the debts accumulated by the state.
“There is no way out,” Vasilev said, using the truck metaphor with which the prime minister had described the state of the country. According to him, the prime minister is not in this truck, while the person entrusted with driving it has no intention of stopping and is ready to continue towards a crash.
Criticism of the rise in public debt
Vasilev presented a chart showing the dynamics of public debt. He pointed out that the governments of Ivan Kostov, Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Sergey Stanishev had reduced the debt by billions of euros. In his words, Boyko Borisov’s cabinets kept it at approximately the same level, with the major increase coming in 2014 after a bank collapsed.
After that period, the economist described the political situation as an “era of chaos”, during which around ten governments of different political colours had changed. According to him, they had increased the liabilities, and the current trend already resembled a geometric progression.
“This is a matter of political will and political vision,” Vasilev said. He cited the government of Ivan Kostov as an example, saying that it had inherited a country with a budget deficit of around 13% under the government of Zhan Videnov, but that afterwards three cabinets had governed without deficits and with large surpluses.
“I am disappointed by yet another budget”
Vasilev said he had expected Head of State Rumen Radev to take bolder decisions. “I am disappointed by yet another budget,” he said, adding that excuses involving the actions of previous governments were not enough.
According to the economist, those in power have no intention of changing course. He warned that increasing the debt would burden future generations and compared the possible outcome to a crash involving the state.