Finance Minister: Cabinet Should Survive Because It Sets Clear Direction for Bulgaria

Finance Minister Assen Vassilev in Parliament, Sofia, October 12, 2023 (BTA Photo)

Sofia,

12.10.2023 10:52

(BTA)

As Parliament was debating a motion for a vote of no- confidence in the government Thursday, Finance Minister Assen Vassilev told reporters that the Cabinet must survive because it is setting a clear direction for this country's development and is giving it clear prospects. "We have started difficult reforms that are 20-30 years overdue, and had been swept under the rug for too long," he added.

He said that the judicial reform "has started moving forward" and that "it will be a very long battle".

"We are steering Bulgaria on a clear European course," the Minister said, mentioning the country's efforts to join the eurozone and Schengen.

He went on to say that businesses have started to invest, that the savings of Bulgarian households have increased by BGN 7 billion in the past year, and that Bulgaria is one of very few EU countries where the growth of incomes outpaced inflation in 2022.

Asked whether he believes that GERB and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms would back the government unanimously, he said he cannot make predictions and that he would not "underestimate the no-confidence motion" before he knows for sure that the government has survived.

He said that there is enough money in the state budget, that the budget balance is published monthly and that there is over BGN 10 billion in the government's account.

Asked how much Bulgaria can afford to provide in aid to Israel, the Minister said that the Foreign Ministry gets an annual budget which it can spend for aid in an act of solidarity at its own discretion.

/NF/