In my opinion, this vote of no confidence is not related to the implementation of the budget as of May 31, 2025, it rather has another goal and that is Bulgaria's successful accession to the eurozone. This was commented by the Minister of Finance Temenuzhka Petkova during the debates on the vote of no confidence in the government for "failure in fiscal policy", reported by BTA.
Everything that has been said so far has been refracted precisely through this prism - "you do not implement the revenues - the eurozone is to blame", "you made such a budget - the eurozone is to blame", said Petkova. "Bulgaria has met absolutely honestly and honorably all the criteria related to our membership in the eurozone and very soon, literally in a matter of days, we will finalize the process of Bulgaria's admission to the eurozone from January 1, 2026,", said Temenuzhka Petkova. Bulgaria will take its rightful place in the heart of Europe, she added and called for the government's support.
According to the Finance Minister, the motives for the vote of no confidence are unfounded. The revenues in the 2025 budget are ambitious, but over the past four years the ambition in spending has been enormous, the Finance Minister added. She explained that the ambition in revenues is dictated by the ambition in spending, which is legally regulated.
The National Revenue Agency and the "Customs" Agency are working purposefully to fulfill the revenues set in the 2025 budget, said Temenuzhka Petkova. She called on those who are skeptical about the collection of revenues not to rush to gloat, because the efforts that the institutions are making are truly for the good of the country.
Budget revenues increased by 3.2 billion leva or 11.5% compared to the same period last year, with tax revenues having the largest share, said Temenuzhka Petkova. Expenditures are 34.1 billion leva, marking an increase compared to the same period last year by 4.8 billion leva or 16.4%, she pointed out. The budget balance as of May 31, 2025 is negative and amounts to 2.6 billion leva - 1.2% of gross domestic product with a set budget deficit of 3%, the Finance Minister also said.
Regarding the comments that for the same period last year, Budget 2024 is in surplus, Temenuzhka Petkova said that this surplus is the result of the projects under the Recovery and Resilience Plan and the operational programs not being implemented.