The reduction of investments in capital assets, set out in the budget plan, must receive an explanation. This was stated by the former Deputy Prime Minister and member of the Economic and Social Council Lidiya Shuleva in the program “Face to Face“ on bTV.
According to her, the positive thing in the plan is the planned reduction of the budget deficit to 4.3%. Shuleva, however, believes that this does not indicate a sustainable recovery of public finances.
“The reduction of investments, which is planned in the budget plan, is worrying“, said Shuleva.According to her, the package of measures to reduce the deficit is at the expense of business and citizens. Expenditures are decreasing slightly, but according to Shuleva, this may affect economic growth. Among the indicated cuts are expenses related to the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Defense, with the total amount of reductions being 57 million.
„This is a negligible amount“, she commented. Shuleva added that tax rates have a relatively small share, as they represent a one-time annual tax.
The question of excess profits
The former Deputy Prime Minister also raised the issue of so-called excess profits. According to her, some companies direct their profits to reinvestment, and limiting investments raises the question of what the effect of this policy will be.
„If we limit investments, what do we achieve?“, Shuleva asked. She stressed that investments in capital assets are important for the development of the economy.
Measures for families and the minimum wage
Shuleva positively assessed the planned measures for families with children. According to her, in families with two children who allocate about 600 euros per child, a non-taxable minimum income can be reached. She defined the measure as an investment in children and stated that it could have a positive demographic effect.
According to Shuleva, the mechanism for determining the minimum wage is better than the previous one. She indicated as the main goal the reduction of the share of people receiving the minimum wage, and stated that a large part of them are in the gray sector.
Shuleva called for the minimum wage not to be tied to various social costs. According to her, the maximum social security income also guarantees higher pensions.
Criticisms of the TELK system
The former deputy prime minister stated that the problems with TELK are worsening with each passing year. She raised the question of how the funds for benefits for people with disabilities reach them.
Shuleva noted that she intends to unify social payments, in which the needs of each person would be taken into account individually.
Sources: novini.bg