site.btaAn Outgoing Parliament Should Not Normally Correct an Outgoing Cabinet - Budgetary Committee Chair

An Outgoing Parliament Should Not Normally Correct an Outgoing Cabinet - Budgetary Committee Chair

Sofia, November 24 (BTA) - There is a principled political decision not to change the figures of the 2017 draft budget between first and second reading, the parliamentary Budgetary Committee Chair Menda Stoyanova said Thursday here. She met with representatives of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) within consultations with the parliamentary forces, initiated by the unionists.

Stoyanova said that it is not normal for an outgoing parliament to correct an outgoing government.

She took note of the CITUB demand for more funds for school and child healthcare. GERB will initiate talks with the Association of Municipalities to see what the condition of the sector is, she added. Stoyanova was adamant that if a correction is to be made between the first and second reading of the budget, it will involve a change of municipality financing standards, which is not a simple procedure.

Taking a journalist question, she said that GERB does not consider an update of the 2016 budget and such a change is not necessary. The excessive revenues will go for offsetting the deficit, she explained. Therefore, a zero deficit and even a surplus is expected. On Tuesday economists voiced fears that the outgoing government may disburse urgently excessive revenues without Parliament's authorization.