site.bta2025 State Budget Bill to Be Submitted to Cabinet by Feb. 14

The Joint Governance Council Tuesday discussed measures with the shadow economy and agreed not to cut public sector wages and social payments, and not to raise taxes, said GERB, one of the parties in the government coalition, in a press release. It also quoted Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova as saying at the meeting that a new 2025 State Budget bill will be submitted to the Council of Ministers by February 14, as well as drafts of the National Health Insurance Fund budget and the Public Social Insurance budget."

At the meeting, Temenuzhka Petkova presented an update on the current state of public finances.

The analysis of the Ministry of Finance shows that the state budget deficit to be generated for the first quarter of 2025 is about BGN 3.634 billion. It is based on estimates of the usual expenditure and transfers necessary for the normal functioning of the systems in the state. "The revenue for the month of January would be nearly BGN 3.684 billion and the usual expenditure and transfers would be BGN 4.092 billion.

This forms a deficit in the state budget of BGN 407 million. For the month of February, the revenue is BGN 2.267 billion and with the usual expenditure and transfers amounting to BGN 4 billion, the deficit is around BGN 1.736 billion. For the month of March, the revenue will be BGN 3.063 billion and the expenditure and transfers will be BGN 4.553 billion, due to which the deficit will be nearly BGN 1.491 billion, the Finance Minister said.

To be able to finance the deficit and for the state to function normally in the coming months until the adoption of the 2025 State Budget Act, the Joint Governance Council discussed options to cover current expenditures for the month of January.

The Council discussed a number of measures to be implemented in the 2025 budget to combat the informal economy.