site.btaUPDATED Finance Minister: Submission of State Budget Delayed by Commitment to EC

Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said Friday that the submission of the budget was postponed by a week because of Bulgaria's commitment to prepare a structural and fiscal plan for the period 2025-2028 and to submit it to the European Commission. "We need a few days," she added.

Earlier on Friday Democratic Bulgaria accused the Government of deliberately delaying the budget submission and this threatens the country's entry into the eurozone.

On Thursday, a decision published in the Legal Information System of the Council of Ministers revealed that the deadline for submitting the state budget to parliament had been extended from February 14 to February 21.

Petkova reassured that there was no risk for Bulgaria's accession to the euro area.

"We are waiting for the Eurostat inflation data to come out on February 24 and if Bulgaria meets the inflation criterion and meets all the requirements, as the Bulgarian Parliament's decision stipulates, the finance minister is immediately obliged to submit a request for a convergence report," she explained. "So there are no hesitations, there is nothing that would change our direction regarding the euro area. GERB is adamant that this is their top priority and they are working to make this happen."