site.btaUPDATED Regular Government Spent Several Billion Leva within Days, Borissov Says

GERB leader Boyko Borissov Wednesday told reporters that several billion leva had been spent in the last few days. "We have been told that there are BGN 9 billion in the reserve, while actually there are BGN 6 billion; minus the money held for the stability of the pension system and nuclear safety, we are left with less than BGN 2 billion."

Later on Wednesday, Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov told reporters in the corridors of Parliament that his party "is concerned over the country's finances".  

On Tuesday, caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lyudmila Petkova told a news conference the fiscal reserve held on central bank accounts was BGN 6.7 billion as of April 8. Of this amount, BGN 4 billion were held by the State Fund for Guaranteeing the Stability of the State Pension System (aka the "Silver Fund"), which leaves financial resources at hand of BGN 2.7 billion.

Petkova was commenting on her predecessor Assen Vassilev's statement at the changeover of power earlier that day that there are BGN 9.9 billion in the fiscal reserve as of March 29. He said that tax revenues were expected to bring the fiscal reserve back to BGN 9 billion-plus at the end of April. 

For his part, Borissov commented on Wednesday: "I have been saying for a month now that the money is gone." He also said that being a right-wing conservative party, GERB had always insisted on a sufficient reserve.

The GERB leader said Petkova had done the right thing by not dismissing Rumen Spetsov as National Revenue Agency Executive Director.

Vazrazhdane's Kostadinov said that they have been expressing concern over the country's finances for quite some time, in the previous Parliament even.  He said that when the next government comes and it has going expenses on top of overdue payments, it may have to take out new huge loans or default on the loans. He said that all that is a result of "Assen Vassilev's 3-percent-deficit fetish" and his desire to get an invitation form eurozone entry and a good convergence report in June. "To attain his goal, he risked the financial security of the State," Kostadinov said.