site.btaWithout New Budget, Public Finance Act Rules Apply for Three Months, Parliament Chair Says

Although Parliament has not adopted a 2025 State Budget Act yet, there is no problem with following the provisions of the Public Finance Act for the first three months of the year, Parliament Chair Nataliya Kiselova told reporters in Plovdiv.

Under the Public Finance Act, in the absence of a state budget before the beginning of the budget year, the budget revenue is collected in compliance with the applicable laws, and expenditure and transfers must not exceed the expenditure or transfers for the same period of the preceding year, up to the amount of the revenues, aid and donations received.

On December 31, 2024, the Council of Ministers introduced in Parliament a bill proposing to change the rules in connection with the extended operation of the 2024 State Budget Act. On January 7, the parliamentary Budget and Finance Committee will debate that bill, some tax laws, and the draft budgets of the State, of the public social insurance system, and the National Health Insurance Fund, said Kiselova.

She assumes that the Council of Ministers' 2025 State Budget Bill could be adopted and gazetted in January. 

According to Finance Minister Lyudmila Petkova, the Cabinet could not introduce an extension bill, as the structure of the 2024 State Budget differs from previous years, including in terms of capital expenditures and other expenditures.