The draft 2027 budget envisages reducing government spending by nearly BGN 1 billion, lowering the budget deficit to 3.5% and limiting new government debt to BGN 8.6 billion. This was stated by Konstantin Prodanov, chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee in the National Assembly, in an interview with BNT.
According to him, spending will decrease not only in absolute terms but also as a share of gross domestic product. He pointed to a decline from 43.5% to 39.6%, describing it as a serious consolidation of public finances. The cash-basis deficit is expected to be reduced from 5.7% this year to 3.5% in 2027.
Prodanov said that, for the first time since 2021, a reduction in new debt compared with the previous year is envisaged. He compared the planned BGN 8.6 billion with just under BGN 10 billion in the previous period. When presenting the budget framework, the government cited new debt of around EUR 8.5 billion, which is close to the figure quoted by the chairman of the Budget Committee.
Cuts in the administration and public companies
Five thousand positions have already been cut in the administration, while around 2,500 more people are expected to be affected by optimisations in public companies, Prodanov said. Of the cuts cited, 2,000 are at the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
According to the budget parameters presented by the government, the reduction in staff positions is linked to a 10% cut in personnel spending in the state administration. The largest reduction is expected at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, followed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works.
Prodanov described the measures as „genuine administrative reform“ and said that such a reduction in the administration was being undertaken for the first time since 2016. He said the budget should encourage investment and high-value-added production, rather than economic growth being based primarily on domestic consumption financed through borrowing.
Proposal to use second-pillar pension funds rejected
In the interview, Prodanov also commented on the dispute over the possible use of funds from the second pension pillar. He said that such a measure was not included in the official document sent to the European Commission.
„This has not been planned and is not being planned,“ Konstantin Prodanov said.According to him, it is impossible for him to know about every idea discussed at expert level in the individual ministries, but if such a proposal had existed, it had not made it into the public draft budget.
The draft budget was presented by the government on 6 November. The framework also includes a 5% increase in salaries in the public sector, a 7.5% rise in the remuneration of teaching professionals and an increase in pensions under the Swiss rule.