The country's budget will be ready next week or at the latest the week after that. This was announced in Burgas by Social Minister Borislav Gutsanov, quoted by BNT. The general program for the governance of Bulgaria with specific priorities is expected to be ready within a week. The Speaker of the National Assembly Natalia Kiselova announced that the opening of nomination procedures for regulators is expected to be on the parliament's agenda next week.
Social Minister Borislav Gutsanov reassured that there will be no increase in taxes and fees and there will be no reduction in funds for social benefits in Budget 2025, regarding the unions' request for an increase in funds for food vouchers, which should be included in the state's money. Minister Gutsanov stated that meetings with the unions on this issue are forthcoming.
In this regard, he also stated that a bill should be submitted to limit food markups and gave an example that the price of a product increases nearly 10 times by the time it reaches the store from the manufacturer. According to Borislav Gutsanov, the holes in the budget can be filled if the "gray sector" is eliminated and he said that the NRA and customs have a major role in this.
"The budget will most likely be ready next week or the week after. There will be no increase in taxes, nor will there be any cuts in social benefits. The Ministry of Finance, and specifically "Customs" and the NRA have a key role in order to be able to do the job in a truly normal way, and not, I repeat, increase the gray sector and from there, the state's revenues and the Gross Domestic Product will fall sharply. The government management program is currently being worked on," the Minister of Social Affairs explained.
The Speaker of the National Assembly Natalia Kiselova announced that the opening of procedures for nominations of regulators is expected to be on the parliament's agenda next week. Kiselova announced that there are bodies whose mandate expired in 2017. An example of this is the Committee on Dossiers.
"There are bodies whose mandate expired in 2017. This week, if the committees with the reports are ready, they will be included in the agenda and only then can we talk about deadlines for making nominations," Kiselova explained.
The Speaker of the Parliament also commented on the idea of introducing a ban on the sale of vapes. He said that first we need to see how control is currently exercised over their sale to minors, and therefore it can be implemented right now by both parents and authorities, and the bill will be considered by the Health Committee.