The draft budget and tax laws will be considered in the relevant parliamentary committee on January 7 next year, BNR reported.
On their last working day for 2024, MPs approved the composition of the budget committee, but did not elect a chairman.
Reporter Marta Mladenova reported that the agenda of its first meeting, in addition to the adoption of internal rules and legislative activity, includes a hearing of the acting Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Lyudmila Petkova.
"What expenses, distinguished politicians and experts?...I will not be the Minister of Finance who proposes reducing people's incomes and pensions, nor will I hinder the implementation of national strategic projects and municipal projects for water supply, infrastructure, education and culture, social activities", Deputy Prime Minister Lyudmila Petkova responded to the many criticisms of the draft budget for next year, recalling that the expenditure part is based on policies voted by parliament:
"There is nothing false in the expenditure, unfortunately".
And they envisage a serious increase in wages in various sectors, but the entire income policy is "chaos". The revenue measures - two types of tax amnesty are envisaged - for declared and undeclared income, which experts define as unrealistic for filling the missing billions. In numbers, expenditure exceeds revenue by 18 billion leva and through the complex of revenue and expenditure measures, a large part of which the Finance Ministry has already taken a step back, it must provide 12 billion leva in addition to enter the 3 percent deficit.
"We have 8 billion hollow revenues", commented Krasimir Valchev from GERB-SDF.
"If we don't review the expenditure part, it won't happen", pointed out Martin Dimitrov from PP-DB.
And more - Petkova's hearing is at the insistence of former Finance Minister Assen Vassilev, according to whom - without an extension law, there will be no regulatory opportunity to pay various social expenses from January next year, such as pensions and maternity.
"This means that business will have to pay stock exchange prices, without a ceiling. We all know what this means for inflation in the country", said Vassilev.
His thesis was challenged by a number of experts, as according to texts in the Social Security Code, the payment of pensions is guaranteed even without a budget in force. The National Social Security Institute is due to make the first payment on January 7th.