site.btaSocialists, Trade Unionists, Employers Concur That Budget Deficit Should Not Exceed 3 Per Cent of Gross Domestic Product

116 ECONOMY-BUDGET DEFICIT-COMMENTS

Socialists, Trade Unionists, Employers
Concur That Budget Deficit Should Not Exceed
3 Per Cent of Gross Domestic Product

Sofia, November 14 (BTA) - The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP)
called an urgent meeting with representatives of the trade
unions and employers to discuss the proposed update of the 2014
budget and issues pertaining to the Corporate Commercial Bank
whose banking license has been withdrawn. Emerging from the
talks BSP leader Mihail Mikov said that the participants in the
meeting concurred that everything possible must be done so as
not to exceed the target budget deficit in the upcoming budget
update. The latest update proposal sets the budget deficit at
3.7 per cent of the projected GDP and additional debt financing
at up to 4,500 million leva until the year's end.

According to Mikov, there are reserves in the budget revenue,
including such resulting from growing consumption on the eve of
Christmas.

Deputy Chairman of the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA)
Dimiter Brankov said that BIA is against exceeding the budget
deficit target of 3 per cent. Brankov spoke about "a clear
timeframe for Bulgaria's joining the Eurozone," for which in his
view the earliest possible date is 2018. He said that a looming
procedure for excessive budget deficit would set Bulgaria back
by another two years.

Confederation of Independent Trade Unions Vice President Nikolai
Nenkov dwelled on the absence of a solution to the shortage of
funds in the troubled Irrigation Systems state-owned company. He
also spoke about the need for additional financing in education
to ensure the payment of the new minimum monthly wage to the
non-teaching staff in the system. PK /ZH/