The draft Budget 2027 shows no political will for reform and greater efficiency, former Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov said on bTV’s “Face to Face” program. According to him, the ruling parties are not ready to take a political risk in order to change the public finance model.
“As long as there are taxpayers, there will be a budget, but it must be a tool for providing a development perspective,” Goranov said.He described Budget 2027 as the first budget since Rumen Radev’s government came to power in which there is “not even the slightest idea of political self-sacrifice” in favor of efficiency or reform. According to Goranov, the authorities are failing to use the opportunity to propose longer-term solutions amid the ongoing political crisis.
Criticism of the second pension pillar
Goranov described the idea of transferring funds from the second pension pillar to state social security as misguided. He stressed that these are the insured people’s personal savings, which can be inherited and generate returns, while state social security operates on a pay-as-you-go basis.
According to him, such a change would affect the interests of millions of people and reduce the investment potential of pension funds. Goranov also pointed to the risk that the state could assume additional commitments whose financial implications have not been clearly assessed.
He said that if a change to the pension model is being discussed, it must be presented openly, with its consequences clearly outlined. According to him, the problem also lies in the way the issue has been communicated, accusing the executive branch of sending contradictory signals.
Positions at odds
In an earlier statement to bTV, Finance Minister Galab Donev said that neither his official proposal to the European Commission nor the draft state budget contained any idea of redirecting funds from the second pension pillar to the National Social Security Institute. Atanas Pekanov also said that the budget had gone through the required coordination procedure with the European Commission.
Against this backdrop, Goranov insisted that such intentions must not be discussed behind the scenes and that the budget should provide a clear development perspective rather than merely securing the state’s current financing.