The National Assembly adopted the 2025 Budget with a set deficit of 3% of the gross domestic product. After the vote, Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova admitted that this budget is the possible one under the given conditions.
"Certainly, Budget 2025 could have been better, but the conditions in which it was drawn up made it the possible budget. I hope that with joint efforts we will stabilize Bulgaria's public finances and for 2026 we will have a better budget and that it will be the first budget in euros," said Minister Petkova.
The state debt will reach 61.7 billion leva, which represents 26.6% of the national product. In 2025, a new debt of 18.9 billion leva may be taken on.
The minimum wage is increasing to 1,077 leva. A 50 percent increase in wages in the "Security" sector is planned. Salaries in the public sector will increase by 5%, and teachers' salaries will reach 125% of the average wage.
The parliamentarians voted to lower the threshold for mandatory registration under the Value Added Tax Act from 166,000 leva to 100,000 leva. The proposal to reduce the VAT rate for the restaurant industry to 9%, submitted by "Vazrazhdane", did not receive the necessary support and the sector remains with a tax rate of 20%.
During the night session, the deputies decided to create a state food chain, with 100 million leva allocated from the budget for this purpose.