Reckless spending of public money can lead to one, only outcome. Apart from high inflation and an increase in taxes, as in Romania and Greece. This was warned by the Minister of Social Affairs in the "Saxe-Coburg" cabinet; Lidiya Shuleva in an interview with BNR.
"When we comment on what measures to take, we cannot endlessly justify ourselves by saying that elections are coming up and there is no political will. These people were elected and voted into office, they formed a government that does its job, which is to ensure the stability of the state, but not in the name of illusory "popular love", but as it should be in terms of public finances," she answered the question about the political will, to tighten spending, effective revenue collection, so as not to raise taxes.
"All this is a deceptive picture of how to win "popular love". If we truly think about the people, we will not end up in a situation in which we all have to pay dearly for this "popular love". If people don't understand it, we will have to pay again to compensate for the desire of certain politicians to earn "people's love", adds Shuleva.
By the end of October, the government should submit the draft Budget 2026 to the National Assembly.
Former Social Minister and expert Lidiya Shuleva commented that every budget represents the acceptance of some compromises and "in any case, they will have to be made, the question is in what direction and at the expense of what".
"For the first time in 25 years, we are violating the requirement for fiscal stability, and that is with Budget 2025. If this trend continues, things really look serious. I believe that the government should stick to the frameworks established for years, from which we have not deviated, in order to maintain fiscal and financial stability for the currency board so far", she points out.
According to her, when the EC had to look at Bulgaria's indicators for the eurozone, they were for 2024 and "were within the required parameters, so I could not claim that Bulgaria and its budget were on steroids":
"The issue is that for 2025, which is yet to be reviewed, we did not have an adopted budget when we submitted the convergence report. Something happened that has not happened for 20 years - a departure from the framework of 40% total expenditures to GDP, and this is also a requirement in the Public Finance Act. We have not violated it for 20 years, we have been within 37%, and in 2025 we will be 44% of expenses compared to GDP. This is a signal light that something is wrong." Lidiya Shuleva commented on where the debt spiral will lead, if allowed to happen. She explained in detail where there are reserves for Bulgaria's first budget in euros and why working pensioners in the 1st and 2nd labor categories, working at a desk, are accumulating large expenses for the state.
She warned against repeating the mistakes that led to the bankruptcy of the Viden government, when the ruling socialists poured money into state-owned companies as a result.