site.btaTripartite Council Discusses 2025 State Budget Bill

The National Council for Tripartite Cooperation Monday discussed the 2025 State Budget Bill.

Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova presented the key parameters of the budget, describing it as “the feasible budget following four years of political instability and a series of elections”. "I hope that in the coming periods, we will be able to stabilize public finances so that important policies for Bulgarian citizens can be implemented through the budget. We are at a crucial moment, connected to the achievement of one of our main priorities – Bulgaria’s membership in the Eurozone. With the parameters of this budget, we are able to meet the deficit requirements," the Finance Minister commented.

Vice Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev mentioned that a task force has been set up under the Ministry of Interior to ensure that all lost revenues related to transit traffic, tolls, and fines are collected.

Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association Chairperson Vasil Velev stated that the Association does not support the proposed budget. He criticized the proposed increase in public sector personnel costs, calling it socially unacceptable. "Public sector wages in December 2024 will be 26% higher than in the real sector. We are seeing unjustified wage increases in several sectors without any reforms," Velev commented, calling the increases in public order, security, and defence sectors particularly controversial. He also pointed out that Bulgaria spends the most in the EU on personnel in public order and security as a percentage of GDP.

Velev also noted that the Ministry of Interior has 12.5% pensioners who receive both a pension and a salary, and that the shadow economy in Bulgaria was 22% in 2023, with no data yet for 2024.

The Bulgarian Industrial Association announced its support for the budget with reservations, emphasizing the importance of having a regular budget to move closer to Eurozone membership and meet public finance laws.

The Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry expressed support for the budget, particularly for maintaining the country’s tax model. "We will continue to advocate for a balanced budget," they added.

The Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria refrained from supporting the budget, expressing concerns about the real size of the deficit in light of Bulgaria’s Eurozone application.

President of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) Plamen Dimitrov said that Bulgaria does not have a long-term debt problem but warned about rising interest rates. He also defended pension increases, stating that they are not unreasonable. "We believe social security contributions should be raised this year, as was initially planned by the Ministry of Finance," Dimitrov said.

The Podkrepa Confederation of Labour expressed concerns about the revenue side of the budget, urging immediate work on tax and social security policies, as well as raising the social security income to match the increase in the average insured income reported by the National Statistical Institute.

Earlier in the day, the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation discussed the Public Social Insurance Budget Bill and Draft Health Insurance Budget for 2025.