Bulgaria: Finance Ministry Ready with Budget Update

Bulgarian Finance Ministry is ready with a draft budget update, which will be submitted when a working parliament is formed. The budget update will not be based on increasing the deficit, but will be financed through more efficient tax collection and more effective spending, Minister Asen Vassilev  during the briefing of the Council of Ministers.

In the financial sphere, the cabinet found insufficient funding planned under the anti-crisis measures, as well as complete lack of control over state funds spending, Finance Minister Asen Vassilev said.

"We kept some of the measures in their present form, others have been changed, but our intention was to target the most vulnerable groups," he said.

According to him, in the last month there has been a significant increase in the NRAdebt recovery, far beyond what was planned.

In the economic sphere, the new administration has two priorities - transparency and economic growth, said caretaker Economy Minister Kiril Petkov.

As his main achievements, he highlighted the changes in the structure of the Bulgarian Development Bank and the imposition of a funding limit of up to BGN 5 million, which should support small and medium enterprises while the new recovery program, announced two weeks ago, should pour BGN 2.5 billion in business financing, Petkov added.