If the draft budget for 2025 is adopted, next year the deficit will grow like an avalanche, the poor will become even poorer, and the rich - richer. This was the prediction made to the Bulgarian National Radio by Ivan Kostov - former Minister of Finance and former Prime Minister. He made a comparison with 1994 and the time of the Zhan Videnov government, when, according to him, the same budget policy was used, causing an artificial rise in the economy and incomes, but for a short time, and after a year and a half - a collapse due to hyperinflation.
Kostov emphasized that the budget is prepared according to the Public Finance Act, and according to him, the currently proposed one does not comply with it, and the parameters and rules for budgeting in the country have been violated.
As an example, he pointed out that the parameter for the share of expenses in the Gross Domestic Product has been violated, which has been exceeded many times, and at the same time, "revenues have been created". The financier believes that our country is threatened with a punitive procedure by the European Commission due to an excessive budget deficit.
He defined the project as "dismantling the last things that were good for Bulgaria".
Due to the permanent political crisis, the legislative body cannot function, there is no effective and responsible government, but one that is under the dictation of the DPS-New Beginning party, Kostov also pointed out.
There is a decline and collapse of state institutions that can no longer function, he also said and attributed the blame to the political class, which does not fulfill the role for which it was created.
According to the expert, many people who represent the political class do not realize to what extent their lives depend on political decisions and remain distanced from politics.
Many people who have stood on their feet think that these things that are happening in the state, does not affect them, he added.
This budget should not be voted on, Kostov is categorical. He directed his serious criticism at the Minister of Finance (editor's note: Lyudmila Petkova) and defined the person holding the post as a creature of Delyan Peevski and Yordan Tsonev.
The Minister of Finance must propose a project that meets the requirements of the EU and Bulgarian legislation for compiling and proposing a budget that is good for the entire country, and not meet the requirements of someone who wants to urgently go to elections, the former prime minister added.