The government must correctly interpret the assessment by international rating agency S&P Global Ratings and not drag Bulgaria into new crises, GERB representatives said at a briefing at the party headquarters.
“I hope Rumen Radev’s government will not display its usual arrogance, will familiarise itself with Standard & Poor’s assessment and will not drag our country into crises and problems,” said Temenuzhka Petkova, a GERB-SDS MP and former finance minister.
S&P Global Ratings changed the outlook on Bulgaria’s long-term credit rating from positive to stable. However, the agency affirmed Bulgaria’s long- and short-term foreign- and local-currency ratings at “BBB+/A-2”.
According to the Finance Ministry, the change in the outlook reflects a weakening of budgetary and external-sector indicators. The rating agency raised its forecast for the budget deficit in 2026 to 5.1% of GDP and expects it to gradually narrow to 3% of GDP in 2029.
Criticism over the deficit and investment
Vladislav Goranov said the government was failing to address society’s problems and was wasting time. He noted that the budget deficit was not being reduced at the necessary pace, while consumption was growing and investment was declining.
According to him, this is widening the current-account deficit in the balance of payments. Goranov explained that the country was borrowing, increasing consumption and financing the rest of the world through imports exceeding exports.
In May, S&P Global Ratings raised the outlook on Bulgaria’s rating from stable to positive. The agency has now changed it back to stable without downgrading the “BBB+/A-2” rating itself.
Petkova warned that, in the absence of rapid fiscal consolidation, a future credit-rating downgrade was possible. She described the draft state budget as a “budget illusion” and said it contained no reforms.
The assessment will be discussed during the budget debate
GERB said that S&P Global Ratings’ assessment would be among the foundations for the debate during the first reading of the draft state budget law in the National Assembly.
According to the Finance Ministry, S&P forecasts growth of the Bulgarian economy of 2.8% in 2026 and average real growth of 2.6% over the 2027–2029 period. The agency states that the rating could be downgraded if the fiscal consolidation process does not advance.
Sources: bta.bg