The deputies continue to work at this hour in an attempt to adopt the Budget for the year on first reading. So far, only the social security budget has been adopted. It provides for an increase in the minimum wage and indexation of pensions from July under the Swiss rule. The debate and voting on the budget of the health fund and the large state budget are yet to begin, BNT reports.
The deputies have set themselves the task of adopting all budgets by the end of this plenary session. Whether they will succeed is still unclear. Unfortunately, on today's plenary day, instead of starting with the most important laws for the state – those for the budgets, before them, two bills were discussed, the debates on which lasted 7 hours and which were never adopted on first reading.
The law on social security was supported by 148 deputies, 70 voted "against", and one "abstained". What the budget provides, in addition to an increase in pensions under the Swiss rule by 8.6%, is an increase in the minimum social security income to 1077 leva and an increase in the maximum social security income to 4130 leva. There were no serious debates on the bill, but there were frequent breaks. The bill was supported by the Minister of Social Affairs in the plenary hall.
"The average pension will reach 975 leva, which is an increase of over 10% compared to 24 years, the social old-age pension and related pensions and supplements will also increase by 8.6%. I say again, is it enough - no, it is not enough. There needs to be more, but we must still be realistic when considering this financial situation in which the country is and what is possible and permissible. But certainly not a single program will suffer in this budget. Not a single Bulgarian citizen who needs it and who already has social benefits will suffer", explained the Minister of Labor and Social Policy Borislav Gutsanov.
According to the Minister of Social Affairs, a debate is still necessary in society to change the entire social system. Currently, there is also a requirement to increase contributions to the "Pensions" fund from 2027 by one percentage point and from 2028 by another two percentage points.
Currently, the deputies continue to work on the NHIF Budget Law, and then they must also consider the state budget.