31.01.2023

Although Consolidated Fiscal Programme (CFP) revenues increase as compared to the same period of the previous year, the bigger growth of expenditures results in a deterioration of the budget balance in comparison to the one reported for January 2022. While an excess of revenues over expenditures of BGN 937 million was reported under the CFP in January 2022, the CFP surplus in January 2023 shrinks in half, i.e. down to BGN 470 million (0.3% of the projected GDP). The growth of expenditures is due to some pieces of legislation that have become effective, including in the pension field, current programmes compensating electricity consumers outside the regulated market, etc.

Key CFP parameters based on preliminary data and estimates:

Based on the preliminary data, CFP revenues, grants and donations in January 2023 are expected to be BGN 4,836 million and increase by BGN 515 million (12 per cent) as compared to those reported in January 2022. Tax and non-tax CFP proceeds grow by BGN 406 million in nominal terms compared to January 2022, while grant and donation proceeds (mostly EU programme and fund grants) grow by BGN 109 million compared to those reported for the same period of the previous year.

As of January 2023, the Consolidated Fiscal Programme expenditures, including the contribution of the Republic of Bulgaria to the EU budget, amount to BGN 4,366 million million. For comparison, the CFP expenditures for January 2022 amount to BGN 3,384 million. The most considerable increase is registered for social expenditures, in particular pension expenditures, which increase by more than BGN 370 million in nominal terms, followed by subsidy costs which increase by around BGN 250 million mostly due to the existing programmes compensating non-household electricity consumers. A growth is also registered in staff costs, maintenance and capital expenditures.

The part of Bulgaria’s contribution to the EU budget, as paid from the central budget as of 31 January 2023, amounts to BGN 112 million, which complies with the existing legislation in the area of EU own resources.

The statistical data and the Information Bulletin on the Execution of the State Budget and the key Consolidate Fiscal Programme indicators based on the monthly data on cash execution of first-level spending units for January 2023 will be published on the website of the Ministry of Finance at the end of February 2023.