We are moving away from the eurozone for years, and maybe forever. Former Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov warned about this in an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio.
We are moving at least two more years into the future - 2029, he said. According to him, there are "two clumsy attempts for Bulgaria to enter a huge deficit".
He described the proposal "to accept expenses that are not offset by real revenues" as a "stupid step".
"One kind of thing is said - there will be a big deficit, spend now. The revenue part is gone. They kind of say - "Now admit all the expenses to us, let's start spending hard from January, but the parliamentarians are experienced and they won't get caught," he believes regarding the latest moves by the caretaker cabinet and the Ministry of Finance.
In his words, "we need to talk about external intervention, because there's no way good experts would suggest such nonsense."
It's not just the finance minister who is sensible. The experts at the Ministry of Finance have been there for over 25 years. They simply know how to make a budget and it was very atypical for them as experts to see Budget 2025. We are actually being offered a 15 billion deficit instead of 6 billion, which is needed for a 3% deficit, Dyankov explained in the program "12+4".
Simeon Dyankov emphasized that the only right step at the moment is for the caretaker government to withdraw the draft budget 2025 from the parliament, "because there is an 8% deficit there and all the financiers in Brussels and the ECB see it".
There are 4 items in the expenditure section that are completely invented – one of them is tax forgiveness for those who have not paid their taxes in the past, the former Minister of Finance also pointed out. VAT revenues are artificially inflated, he noted.
Protests are inevitable. The caretaker government is proposing things that cannot happen, Simeon Dyankov also said.
When asked if there is a chance for a quadruple coalition between GERB-SDF, DB, ITN and BSP, he commented that the chance has increased precisely because of the caretaker government's mistakes.
"I am an optimist. I believe that by the beginning of February, Bulgaria will have a regular cabinet."
There is a huge collapse in foreign investments, the financier admitted.
Dyankov also predicted the revocation of the license of "Eurohold". He expressed the opinion that it is "a great disgrace" in the 21st century to have settlements without electricity for a week.
For the upcoming 2025, the former finance minister expects a good year for the global economy.