Bulgaria will welcome the new year without an adopted regular state budget. Instead, an extended law on state finances will be in effect, which was promulgated on December 23 and comes into force on January 1.
In their last working days of this year, the deputies also adopted a one-time indexation of salaries in the budget sector for all employees who do not receive the minimum wage. The increase is in the amount of the accumulated annual inflation as of December 31 - 5%.
It was this decision that caused sharp criticism from economists, including members of the Fiscal Council, according to "Eurocom" TV. According to them, the way in which the indexation was made is economically unjustified and leads to a distortion of income policy.
„When such indexations are made, one should not rely on the past year, because this inflation, which is for 2025, in fact, incomes were already indexed with it at the beginning. It is included in what has already happened. There is no logic in using the same thing twice.“
This was stated on Nova TV by Lyubomir Datsov, a member of the Fiscal Council, emphasizing that at the end of the year the real increase in incomes in the budget sphere will reach between 19 and 20%, which, according to him, represents excessive re-indexation.
„Let's leave aside the fact that the indexation of incomes in the budget sphere between 19 and 20% will be at the end of the year. And the other thing – again a technical question. What inflation rate should it be made with? The budget is an annual task. It is appropriate that the inflation rate used be an average annual rate, and it will be much lower than the one they are currently using.“
The Fiscal Council warns that such decisions without a long-term financial framework can lead to additional pressure on public finances, especially in the absence of a regular budget for the new year.