site.btaBudget Draft for 2025 Sets Spending at 40% of GDP, Deficit Below 3%, Says PM Zhelyazkov

Spending up to 40% of GDP and maintaining a budget deficit of no more than 3% are the main parameters of the 2025 budget draft, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said at a briefing on Tuesday.

Zhelyazkov made the statement followed a meeting of the Joint Governance Council at the National Assembly, where the ruling coalition discussed the State budget for the current year. No tax increases are planned, Zhelyazkov added.

In recent days, there has been significant debate over the closing of the 2024 financial year, Zhelyazkov noted. 

He said the issue concerns commitments and invoiced expenditures that have not yet been settled. The discussion was crucial in determining the expenditure base for the draft budget and the revenue framework under the consolidated fiscal program.

Zhelyazkov explained that the government must finalize and submit the 2025 budget draft, including the budgets for public social security and the National Health Insurance Fund, in compliance with the Public Finance Act’s requirements—keeping spending within 40% of GDP and the deficit below 3%.

"This will be the proposal of the Council of Ministers," Zhelyazkov said.