site.btaParliament Definitively Increases Health Insurance Fund Budget, Approves More Flood Relief Aid

Sofia, August 4 (BTA) - Parliament definitively increased the 2014 budget of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) by 225 million leva, passing an NHIF budget update on second reading on Monday. The increase includes 200 million leva for in-patient care and 25 million leva for cancer medicines.

The update passed conclusively at an extraordinary sitting of Parliament after three consecutive sittings last week were foiled by the absence of a quorum. The MPs decided not to consider a similar update of the 2014 national budget on second reading, recognizing the fact that there was no consensus to revise the national budget. Nor did they discuss a proposed resolution to authorize the future caretaker government to take out external loans, because the proposal was eventually withdrawn by the sponsoring GERB party.

The increase of the NHIF budget will be financed from expenditure cuts at government ministries. Therefore, the lawmakers also revised the 2014 National Budget Act to provide for the transfer of 225 million leva to the NHIF budget.

Parliament further resolved to provide an additional 50 million leva to mitigate the effects of current devastating floods. The money was taken from planned investments in the field of energy.

The lawmakers refused to consider a motion by Yordan Tsonev, Chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee in Parliament, who proposed that senior public officials holding accounts with the troubled Corporate Commercial Bank should receive up to 100,000 euro of their money before the bank loses its licence, provided that bank secrecy is lifted on these officials. The possibility to consider the proposal was rejected by a vote of 40 to 32, with 26 abstentions.

The debate on the NHIF budget update was aired live on Bulgarian National Television and Bulgarian National Radio. Finance Minister Petar Chobanov was in the debating chamber.

Opening the legislature's sitting, Parliament Chairman Mihail Mikov expressed sympathy for the victims of devastating rainstorms and floods in various parts of Bulgaria.

Mikov said two MPs of the Ataka party, Dimiter Avramov and Galen Monev, have bid to leave their parliamentary group.