site.btaCentral Bank's 2025 Budget Increases by 5.1% to BGN 367.8 Mln-Plus

The expenses for the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) for 2025 are set at over BGN 367.8 million, which is an increase of more than BGN 17.8 million or 5.1% compared to the 2024 budget, the BNB reported on its website here on Monday.

The budget for each calendar year is approved by its Governing Council, published in the State Gazette, and submitted to the National Assembly for reference.

When preparing the 2025 budget, the execution of the 2024 budget was taken into account. The execution of the budget under the section Operating Expenses of the BNB for 2024 is expected to amount to over BGN 206.3 million, which is 58.9% of the approved budget for the year. Planned expenses for cash circulation in 2024 are over BGN 185.5 million, but only BGN 62.7 million, or 33.8% of the budgeted funds, are expected to be spent. Within these funds, the largest share is taken by expenses for commemorative and anniversary coins.

Due to the change in the euro introduction date, some of the funds planned for cash circulation and information systems development in the BNB’s 2024 budget have been rescheduled and included in the 2025 budget, the Central Bank said.

The expenses related to cash circulation for 2025 are nearly BGN 183 million.

Expenses for materials, services, and depreciation in the 2025 budget are over BGN 84.4 million or 23% of the total budget, a 15.5% increase compared to the approved funds in the 2024 budget.

The expenses for external services amount to BGN 38.2 million or 10.4% of the total operating expenses of the Bank. A significant expense in the external services category is the cost of subscription maintenance for software products, which amounts to BGN 8.146 million marking a 10.1% increase.

Nearly BGN 9 million is allocated for covering costs under contracts with the Ministry of Interior’s General Directorates, including Gendarmerie, Special Operations and Counter-Terrorism and Fire Safety and Population Protection, representing a 28.4% increase compared to the funds planned for 2024.

Personnel expenses for 2025 are BGN 85 million, an increase of BGN 9 million compared to 2024. The average monthly salaries for management personnel will be BGN 11,198, for specialists BGN 5,397, and for support staff – BGN 3,037. A new monthly remuneration for members of the BNB Governing Council has been set as follows: the Governor will receive BGN 27,434, the deputy governors will be paid BGN 23,515 each, and other Governing Council members will receive BGN 7,838 each.