site.btaEuropean Commission Executive VP: Bulgaria Must Keep Budget Deficit below 3%

Executive Vice President of the European Commission for An Economy that Works for People Valdis Dombrovskis and European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni presented here on Tuesday the autumn package of the European Semester to reporters covering the plenary session of the European Parliament. Asked by BTA about the country's potential budget deficit overshoot, the Vice President stressed the importance of Bulgaria keeping its budget deficit below 3% of the country's GDP.

Dombrovskis added that limiting the budget deficit is also important in the context of Bulgaria's possible accession to the euro area, as maintaining a balanced budget is one of the Maastricht criteria.

He pointed out that so far Bulgaria has managed to meet all the Maastricht criteria except for the inflation rate requirement. The Vice President also said that in terms of inflation, the figures show that it is approaching the required rate.

Gentiloni shared his confidence that Bulgaria will be able to maintain a fiscal balance, as doing so is part of the process of Bulgaria's euro area accession.

He pointed out that the political instability in Bulgaria is a factor that poses a problem.

The Commission has agreed to have Bulgaria as one of the five countries with an extended deadline to submit their national medium-term fiscal structural plans. Bulgaria can now do so until the end of February 2025, Dombrovskis told BTA.