site.btaUPDATED Government Coalition Partners Agree on Minimum Monthly Wage of EUR 620 for 2026

The Joint Governance Council announced Thursday that it has reached an agreement on key parameters in the 2026 budgets: the State Budget and the budgets of the National Health Insurance Fund and the Public Social Insurance. The minimum monthly wage will be set at EUR 620, GERB-UDF deputy floor leader Denitsa Sacheva told reporters in Parliament after a meeting of the government coalition partners. "This reflects the effective Labour Code which says that the minimum wage must be 50% of the national average," she added. 

Maternity benefits for the second year of leave will be set at EUR 460 (BGN 900), which represents an almost 15% increase from the current rate, said Sacheva. She added that it will be proposed that mothers who return to work during their second year of maternity leave receive 75% of the benefit, up from 50% at present, in addition to the wage they will be earning.

For municipalities, EUR 980 million has been allocated for the capital and investment programme.

“These are the only possible budgets that strike an extremely difficult balance between the differing economic views of experts from our parliamentary groups, as well as the expectations of businesses, trade unions, municipalities, and citizens,” Sacheva stressed. She said that a fine balance had been sought between revenues and expenditures.

The three draft budgets will next be reviewed by the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation (of government, the unions and employers) and are expected to be submitted to Parliament next week, Sacheva said, noting that all opinions received so far have been taken into account.

She added that more detailed parameters will be presented next week.

Attending the news briefing were also MPs Atanas Atanassov of BSP - United Left, Yordan Tsonev of MRF - New Beginning and Pavela Mitova of There Is Such a People.