The budget must be rewritten in order to address its serious problems. This was stated by Democratic Bulgaria MP Martin Dimitrov on the “Offensive with Lyubo Ognyanov” programme.
“Our immediate goal for this budget is for it to be rewritten. To fix the major flaws it contains,” Dimitrov said. According to him, if Progressive Bulgaria continues to pursue the same policy, those in power could provoke protests themselves.
Dimitrov accused those in power of removing national mechanisms for limiting the budget deficit instead of tightening fiscal discipline. He pointed out that such mechanisms exist in the Public Finance Act and the Fiscal Council Act.
According to the MP, their removal is justified by the existence of European rules, but these are not sufficient. “Bulgaria must have its own, even stricter rules. We from Democratic Bulgaria will propose such rules,” he said.
As an argument supporting his criticism, Dimitrov pointed to the change in the outlook for Bulgaria’s long-term credit rating by Standard & Poor’s. The international rating agency changed the outlook from positive to stable.
“We have the international company Standard & Poor’s giving a negative assessment of Radev’s budgets. We have the Fiscal Council, a specialised body for fiscal policy, giving a negative assessment. As the opposition, we are also giving a negative assessment,” the MP said.
According to him, high fuel prices, disrupted supplies and large budget deficits create additional risks for the economy and inflation.
Dimitrov described as unrealistic the expectation that businesses would offset the decline in investment amid a deteriorating investment environment. As an alternative, he pointed to the bill submitted by Democratic Bulgaria for a zero tax rate on reinvested profits.
The political formation is also preparing its own package of social measures to support families. The MP, however, criticised spending on infrastructure projects.
“If they continue to build motorways that cost €20 million, €40 million or more per kilometre, as well as roads at such prices, it is clear that the figures cannot add up,” Martin Dimitrov said.
His statement comes amid discussions surrounding budget policy and proposals for changes to the fiscal rules.
Source: nova.bg