The 2025 budget is the possible budget for Bulgaria and will be the last one in leva. This was stated by Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova to bTV, quoted by news.bg.
Petkova explained that the budget procedure related to the budget is a long process and goes through different stages. The regular government had to analyze public finances and propose a budget with a 3% deficit, expenditures to be up to 40% of GDP and to comply with European rules. The state of public finances has been influenced by the state of the state over the past 4 years, the Finance Minister pointed out. She believes that there is no one who is not convinced that there is a hole in the budget of 18 billion leva.
Temenuzhka Petkova added that the state budget was prepared based on current legislation. There is no Bulgarian citizen who does not believe that the people who guarantee our security and peace of mind do not deserve higher salaries. Salaries in the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defense are determined based on the basic monthly salary and on the basis of current legislation. The 2025 budget was prepared without any provision for introducing new taxes or increasing current taxes, the Finance Minister assured.
Petkova assured that no one has come up with any measures in the budget, looking at the ceiling.
Temenuzhka Petkova stated that she does not see any pressure of influence from Delyan Peevski on the 2025 budget. No one can forbid someone from supporting something they want, she pointed out and called on the PP-DB to support the 2025 Budget because of the 3% deficit set in the budget.
The government would very much like to have Easter supplements and if there is such an opportunity, after the 2025 Budget is adopted, there will be. When GERB was in power, there were always Easter supplements, Petkova reminded.
Temenuzhka Petkova assured that the NRA and the "Customs" Agency have done a good job over the past year. She believes that good results give reason to trust revenue agencies. When a team is working well, there should be no changes, she said. Petkova pointed out that Rumen Specsov at the head of the NRA is an appointment of Asen Vassilev. If there is concrete data that Specsov is Delyan Peevski's man, the Finance Minister called for data to be provided and verified.
The government's goal to replace the lev with the euro is for this to happen on January 1, 2026. Temenuzhka Petkova is not afraid of the threats of the leader of "Vazrazhdane" Kostadin Kostadinov, that if Bulgaria adopts the euro, he will set the government on fire. There should be no serious unrest on the subject, Bulgarian citizens should be calm and the Euro Law will come into force when the euro is adopted, the Finance Minister specified.
"The government is strongly motivated to have the control bodies in place to prevent speculative price increases. A large-scale campaign to introduce the euro will begin at the end of March," added Temenuzhka Petkova.
Petkova said that with the PVU, Bulgaria had a wonderful opportunity to restore its economy after the COVID pandemic. "Unfortunately, the PVU shows commitments to reforms that are inappropriate, made by the government of Kiril Petkov - the closure of coal-fired power plants and a 40% reduction in carbon emissions," criticized Temenuzhka Petkova. The other serious issue facing the energy sector is the exclusion of "Bulgartransgaz" from the ESO from BEH.
The government is holding talks with the European Commission and is trying to save what it can from the payment of the second tranche. A revised PVP for the implementation of the projects must be proposed in a short time - the first 10 days of April there must be a revised PVP, the Finance Minister said. Within two weeks the government will have concrete projects and investments. 7 projects from the PVP have not started at all, and there is a very high risk that they will not be started.