site.btaFinance Minister: No Tax Increase Planned

March 31 (BTA) - The worst-case scenario the government considers regarding the coronavirus epidemic in Bulgaria is a three per cent drop of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and start of restoration of employment at the end of the year. No tax increase is planned in Bulgaria, Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov said Tuesday, speaking to reporters. When it was passed in November 2019, the 2020 budget envisaged a GDP growth 3.3 per cent.

Goranov commented the proposal on updating the budget the government passed on Monday. He said experts expect zero or 0.7 GDP growth, but the cabinet has opted for a worst-case scenario.

Unemployment is expected to increase by two percentage points, Goranov said, noting that this are preliminary estimates. The Finance Minister stressed that things depend on how long the restriction continue related to "the medical aspect of the crisis".

Taking a reporter's question, Goranov spoke about the option to increase the cap on a new government debt to ten billion leva, from the current 2.2 billion leva, by offering government securities on the domestic and foreign market and possible financing from international financial institutions.

"We are preparing for an external and an internal debt without this meaning such will be incurred necessarily because for now we have enough fiscal buffers," Goranov said.

The Finance Minister said that a possibility is considered on limiting additional performance-related pays which is part of the remuneration mechanism in the state administration. RY/ZH
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