site.btaCC-DB Co-Chair Vassilev: Rising Government Salaries Drive State Budget’s Financial Challenges

The financial challenges in the state budget are connected to the salary increases for government officials, Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) Co-Chair Assen Vassilev told reporters in Parliament on Thursday.

Vassilev said that the largest increase in next year’s draft budget is allocated for civil servants. The Personnel section alone is set to increase by 36%, despite an inflation projection of just 2.5%. Salaries will rise by 14% to 17% for doctors and teachers, 51% for the Ministry of Interior, 61% for the State Agency for National Security, 75% for the State Agency for Technical Operations, and 30% for the Council of Ministers.

The increase for the 50,000 employees in the Ministry of Interior alone amounts to BGN 1,377 million, exceeding the increase in pension expenses for all 2.1 million pensioners under the Swiss rule, Vassilev noted. He added that the budget clearly shows that with the current levels of social security contributions applied to next year’s incomes, the State will need to allocate BGN 400 million less to the National Social Security Institute’s Pension Fund. This indicates that the current contribution levels are more than sufficient to cover the increase, with funds remaining. Therefore, claims that the State is bankrupt due to social spending are baseless, as evidenced by figures provided by the Council of Ministers.

Vassilev criticized the Ministry of Finance's budget, describing it as "very poor" and clarifying that the budget deficit is not BGN 18 billion but remains within the 3% threshold permitted by the European Commission.

He said that the Council of Ministers now allocates funds for specific policies by decree, a practice that lacks transparency. Unlike last year’s budget, which provided a detailed breakdown of these allocations, the current budget omits such specifics.

Vassilev expressed concern that funds allocated to the Council of Ministers have increased by BGN 1.6 billion and are effectively treated as discretionary "pocket money" for the Council of Ministers and the finance minister, with no clarity on how they will be spent. He referenced a recent instance where BGN 85 million was allocated in this manner to municipalities where people voted for the Movement for Rights and Freedoms - New Beginning led by Delyan Peevski.

"This is absolutely outrageous and reminiscent of times when the Council of Ministers spent money at the end of the year without any accountability, and without Parliament directing how these funds should be used," Vassilev said. He added that CC-DB would insist on a detailed breakdown from the Ministry of Finance, explaining how these funds will be spent and why an additional BGN 1.6 billion is needed compared to 2023.