11.11.2014

"The difference between the review made by the caretaker government and what we will submit is the further precision of the expenditure side so as to be able, within the few business days until the end of the year, to re-estimate the resources". This is what Minister of Finance Vladislav Goranov said in the morning programme of BNT. He specified that the revenue side remained at the levels estimated by the caretaker government, i.e. almost BGN 1,100 million less than those budgeted in the 2014 State Budget Law. The Minister of Finance explained that "as early as at end-2013 the revenues in the current budget were planned in a non-conservative way. Such levels of revenues were set so as to match the expenditures."

Minister Goranov added that the basic savings in the 2014 budget review came from the investment growth programme where there were a lot of non-implemented projects that were not funded, respectively. He reminded that the growth programme had been limited considerably with the caretaker government's coming into power. "Having made an additional analysis, we estimated that we could further limit those expenditures which are unnecessary at this stage", added the Finance Minister and assured that the systems that were awaiting some resources after the budget review would not be affected. Therefore, BGN 278 million of additional expenditures compared to the effective budget law will be planned by the end of 2014.

The Minister of Finance also said that "debt should not be news in the next couple of years" because whenever we have budget deficits, they are funded by debt. He reminded that "we have a very low level of government debt" but "we should continue maintaining those low levels of indebtedness". Mr. Goranov confirmed that our country was threatened by an excessive deficit procedure and "we have therefore shrunk the deficit to slightly below BGN 3 billion", which is also "a colossal amount" for the Bulgarian economy.

Asked about the merger of the Customs Agency and the National Revenue Agency, the Minister of Finance said that there was strife after uniting both agencies, but not at all cost, and after sufficient analyses and guarantees that the united systems would give better results than if working separately. The benefits should exceed the possible deficiencies, added Minister Goranov. He was firm that the unification would not mean dismissal of officers.

Concerning the suspended EU funds, the Minister of Finance said that the efforts of the government were aimed at restoring the trust of the European Commission "in order for the new programming period to start as soon as possible for Bulgaria". He added that "we will be seeking a mechanism to replace those investments with national funds as my major concern is that the sharp drop of investment in 2015 due to the decreased EU resources may suppress the economic growth".

In connection to the case with Corporate Commercial Bank, Mr. Goranov said explicitly that the banking system was not jeopardised. "What happened in CCB has nothing to do with the rest of the banking system", concluded the Minister of Finance.