30.01.2015

"Between BGN 400 and 500 million more revenues will be collected in the budget for January 2015 compared to January 2014, and it is most probable to have a budget surplus for the first time since 2009. These are good news and a good trend because this shows that our efforts are rightly focused. The hidden reserves of the shadow economy have also to be brought to light", Minister of Finance Vladislav Goranov announced in Plovdiv. Goranov expressed his expectations that the revenues collected by the Customs Agency would be by BGN 100-200 million more compared to the same period of last year.

Together with the Chairperson of the parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance, Menda Stoyanova, and Mayor Ivan Totev he examined the finishing works of the multifunctional sports hall in Plovdiv. The Finance Minister reminded that "over the years the state has granted to Plovdiv almost BGN 3.3 million for the building of the hall" and that "this is an impressive facility which the second largest town in Bulgaria deserves". Goranov expressed his belief that the limited financial resources of the country should be carefully balanced between the small settlements and the big cities.

To a journalist's question about the Government programme for rehabilitation of buildings Minister Goranov said that the moment financing was requested under the approved scheme, the Bulgarian Development Bank was ready to immediately disburse the funds.

Minister Goranov commented further before the journalists that "the fact that a debate is on-going on the pension funds will show the truth and people will begin to show interest in the topic because for years there has been complete silence and many of the insured people do not know to which fund they have been allocated". "When we talk about billions of lev saved people's resources that are to be managed for many years, we have to be very sensitive to how they are managed and whether the objectives of this saving, and they are to have income when people are no longer able to work, would be achieved, because for 40 years of management of an investment and given the underdeveloped capital market, the risks are high", the Finance Minister added.