The state is placing a new bond loan of 3.2 billion euros, Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova announced yesterday.
"This is part of the new debt of 18.9 billion leva envisaged in the Budget Act. In the middle of the year, we are doing very well with loans, but not with budget revenues. Even when the budget was being planned, we said that it contained hidden deficits. Initially, the budget was drawn up incorrectly", said the chairman of the general meeting of AIKB Eng. Vasil Velev in "Bulgaria Morning".
According to him, the state has entered a debt spiral and vigorous efforts are needed to avoid reaching the Greek, and now also the Romanian, scenario.
"This year we will pay 60% more interest on loans - 1.6 billion leva on these two loans alone. We will return 4.7 billion leva. As we head towards the abyss, this also fuels inflation," added Eng. Velev to Bulgaria ON AIR.
The people who support the budget sector have frozen salaries, which is unfair, he is categorical.
"This loan finances budget overspending. There are no goods and services produced against this. We cannot, after spending the most on salaries in the Ministry of Internal Affairs last year, increase them by 50% in 2025. And in the judicial system it is the same - we spend the most on salaries as a percentage of GDP in the entire EU. This is unfair to the people who fill the budget," the guest insisted.
According to him, we have shortcomings - a crisis in human resources, poor performance of institutions and this leads to an outflow of investments.
"The Eurozone brings us into line with other countries at a basic level. We have another OECD membership coming up and we hope to achieve this next year. We have proposed to start supplying retailers earlier so that they can return euros in change from January 1," Eng. Velev also pointed out.