site.btaContinue the Change Co-Chair Petkov: PM Zhelyazkov Must Deliver 3% Deficit Budget, Secure Convergence Report

The historical role of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov is to withstand political pressure, prevent manipulation of the 2024 budget, introduce a 2025 budget with a 3% deficit, and request the convergence report, Continue the Change Co-chair Kiril Petkov wrote in his Facebook profile on Sunday.

"With what authority does [GERB leader Boyko] Borissov give instructions to the finance minister? Rosen Zhelyazkov must take control and seize the initiative from Borissov. The eurozone is too important to be sacrificed to the PR-driven frenzy of the former prime minister, whose jealousy toward the current one is obvious," Petkov said, adding that the prime minister is Rosen Zhelyazkov, not Borissov.

On Sunday, GERB leader Boyko Borissov wrote on Facebook that at the beginning of next week, and before the Joint Governance Council, he expects the Finance Ministry and Minister Temenuzhka Petkova to clarify what expenditures due in 2024 have been postponed to 2025 to maintain the targeted cash-based deficit.

During Question Time on Friday, Petkova said that Bulgaria would submit a request for a convergence report on eurozone accession as soon as possible but stressed that the country must meet the necessary criteria. She noted that applying prematurely carries a high risk of rejection.

Earlier in the day, the Finance Ministry announced that Petkova has urgently requested budgetary authorizing officers to provide the necessary data for drafting the 2025 State Budget Act and for an accurate preliminary assessment of the 2024 accrual-based deficit.