site.btaNational Council for Tripartite Cooperation Meets on Monday to Discuss Draft Budget

The National Council for Tripartite Cooperation will hold an extraordinary meeting on Monday, the government information service said.

The agenda for the meeting includes the drafts of the budgets of the National Health Insurance Fund and the Public Social Insurance, and of the state budget for 2025. Rotational deputy chars of the Council will also be elected during the session.

On February 18, the Finance Ministry published the draft state budget for 2025 along with a medium-term forecast.

The draft budget initially did not envisage an increase in pensions using the so-called Swiss Rule. However, following consultations within the Joint Governance Council, an agreement was reached to submit a budget to the National Assembly that includes pension increases starting July 1, with the full application of the Swiss rule for all pensioners.

The Supervisory Board of the National Social Security Institute (NSSI) approved an 8.6% increase of pensions starting July 1.

The Podkrepa Confederation of Labour said that instead of focusing on income policy, there is a retreat.

 January, the government appointed new representatives to the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation. Tomaslav Donchev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Innovation and Growth, along with Borislav Gutsanov, Minister of Labour and Social Policy, were appointed as the government’s representatives in the tripartite body.