site.btaThirteen Municipalities Need Financial Recovery

Sofia, March 14 (BTA) - The Bulgarian Finance Ministry Tuesday released data on the financial position of municipalities in 2017 and on municipalities in a financial recovery procedure in 2018. According to the Ministry, 13 municipalities now need financial recovery, down from 32 a year earlier.

In 2017, the number of municipalities meeting the conditions for financial recovery decreased from 2016. The structure of expenditures by economic elements was relatively unchanged, but in 2017 a number of municipalities tended to manage their budget resources better than in 2016, the analysis found.

The national average share of revenues in total receipts was relatively unchanged: 38.39 per cent in 2017 and 40.07 per cent in 2016. By the end of 2017, 38 municipalities reported a share or revenues in total receipts that exceeded the national average.

The national average cover of expenditures on local activities by revenues increased to 88.39 per cent in 2017 from 85.20 per cent in 2016, while the number of municipalities performing above the national average on this indicator decreased from 62 in 2016 to 49 in 2017.

The national average budget balance as a proportion of total reported receipts was 3.85 per cent in 2017, down from 4.24 per cent in 2016. The number of municipalities reporting a result above the national average on this indicator decreased to 111 in 2017 from 143 in 2016. At the national level, municipalities' budgets were in a surplus in 2017 and, therefore, their share in total receipts was also a positive quantity.

The national average level of the debt as a percentage of the planned revenues and the planned countervailing subsidy decreased to 48.08 per cent in 2017 from 49.16 per cent in 2016 and was relatively stable, with debt repayments consistent with the level of budget revenues and expenditures. Overdue obligations as a share of the planned revenues and the planned countervailing subsidy at the national level decreased to 5.58 per cent in 2017 from 7.25 per cent in 2016.

Thirteen municipalities have financial problems in 2018: Simitli, Stroumyani, Belogradchik, Gramada, Dimovo, Kocherinovo, Rila, Sapareva Banya, Septemvri, Pernik, Nedelino, Chepelare, and Stambolovo. Two municipalities have been dropped from the financial recovery list in 2018.