We cannot expect a dramatic change in revenues. The holes in expenses could reach 50 billion leva, if, for example, we send people to the moon. This was stated by banker Levon Hampartzumyan on bTV, quoted by novini.bg.
„The stake is Bulgaria's membership in the eurozone. If there is a desire to adopt the euro from January 1, 2026, we will achieve a budget deficit of 3%, as well as a sustainable fiscal framework for the next three years, because this will be considered by the EC and the ECB. The question is what kind of budget we will have, and whether we want to enter the eurozone from January 1, 2026. Political courage is needed. Just as rash decisions have been made in the National Assembly, they can be corrected – it depends on the desire”, commented Lidiya Shuleva, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labor and Social Policy.
She noted that there are five times larger wage costs planned in 2025 compared to 2024.
According to financier Lyubomir Datsov, in order to have a 3% deficit, there are two scenarios – optimization of expenses or raising taxes, and a hybrid between the two can also be made. But in the situation with the optimization of expenses, there should be no more than an 8% increase in the expenditure part compared to 2024, and not the currently proposed 25%.
„Accept that the hole in the budget is political chewing gum. Let's not deal with it”, Hampartzumyan urged.
In his words, at the end of this path there will be no euro, but a program with the IMF.
Datsov added: „If we do not enter the 3 percent, we will enter an excessive deficit procedure. This procedure means that Bulgaria must produce the so-called structural reports, which must show how sustainably expenses should be reduced or taxes should be increased. If politicians do not make these difficult decisions, we will be forced by the EU to do the same thing a year later, but they will stop the EU funds and international exposure, because we do not know what we are doing.”
According to Shuleva, the problem is more serious: „For the first time in nearly 20 years, the country's fiscal stability is at risk.”
„There is a trend in the budget sphere that everyone wants an automatic wage increase. This concerns many areas - education, the military, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, doctors. It is normal for salaries to grow at a faster rate in the private sector, where the money that pays for all these expenses is created. There is no reason for the rest of the budget sphere to want an automatic wage increase”, she added.
Datsov expects the Finance Minister to stop the "craziness of the National Revenue Agency".