site.btaPresident Radev: Government Welcomed Convergence Report with Fanfare, Stayed Silent over Budget Submission Deadline

Speaking to reporters about the 2026 state budget here on Saturday, President Rumen Radev said that "the government welcomed the convergence report with fanfare, but remained silent and kept a low profile regarding the deadline for submitting the budget."

"I do not want to comment on the budget before seeing the actual figures, but the debt is a fact. We in Bulgaria will all pay for it," he said.

In his words, the government has openly admitted to manipulating statistics to justify some of what he described as "inadequate decisions made throughout the year."

"The task of somehow covering up a budget hole and reducing it, apparently with a great deal of gymnastics, to a 3% deficit is extremely difficult. Everyone knows the real deficit is much higher," the head of State said.