05.03.2025

The budget implementation for January 2025 takes place in the context of non-adoption of the Law on the 2025 State Budget of the Republic of Bulgaria. Accordingly, this imposes certain constraints on the state budget which the Ministry of Finance should apply. The provision of Article 87(1) of the Public Finance Law stipulates that state budget expenditures and transfers shall be made in an amount not greater than their amount for the same period of the previous year, up to the amount of revenues, grants and donations received, taking into account the acts of the National Assembly and the Council of Ministers in force that provide for additional or reduced budgetary allocations. These norms have been further developed in the Law on Revenue Collection and Expenditures in 2025 until the adoption of the Law on the 2025 State Budget of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Law on the 2025 Budget of the State Public Insurance and the Law on the 2025 Budget of the National Health Insurance Fund, and, accordingly, the Ministry of Finance strictly monitors the parameters of state budget revenues, expenditures and transfers.

Based on the data from the cash execution reports of the first-level spending units for January 2025, the excess of state budget revenues over expenditures and transfers is positive, amounting to BGN 0.1 billion against a projected deficit of BGN 0.4 billion. This is mostly due to the receipt of funds of about BGN 0.35 billion under an agreement between the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom of Denmark on cooperation in the field of material resources for defence that were not foreseen in the estimates for January 2025. This implementation enabled the ordinary financing of the budgetary systems, including the social payments, personnel costs, etc. due.

Key parameters of the Consolidated Fiscal Programme (CFP) as of January 2025

CFP revenues, grants and donations for January 2025 amount to BGN 6,333.8 million, including BGN 348.6 million of one-off revenues under the budget of the Ministry of Defence. Compared to January 2024 (eliminating one-off revenues), revenues increase by BGN 752.2 million (14.4%). This growth is mainly due to tax revenues which increase by BGN 777.2 million in nominal terms compared to January 2024. Non-tax revenues amount to BGN 727.9 million and remain close to the proceeds for the same period of the previous year.

Tax proceeds, including revenues from social security contributions, amount to BGN 5,232.4 million. Tax and social security contribution proceeds grow by BGN 777.2 million (17.4%) compared to those reported for the same period of the previous year, forming 82.6% of the overall CFP proceeds for the period.

Non-tax revenues amount to BGN 727.9 million (an increase by BGN 9.1 million, or 1.3%, compared to the same period of 2024) and are formed mostly from state, municipal and legal expense revenues, rents, concession revenues, greenhouse gas emission allowance revenues, etc.

Grant and donation revenues amount to BGN 373.5 million, including BGN 348.6 million of one-off revenues under the budget of the Ministry of Defence.

CFP expenditures, including the contribution of the Republic of Bulgaria to the EU budget for January 2025, amount to BGN 5,770.0 million. In nominal terms, expenditures increase by BGN 959.4 million (19.9%) compared to January 2024. There is an increase in spending on social payments, including pension expenditures, as well as on personnel costs, subsidies, etc. The nominal growth of expenditures exceeds the reported growth of revenues on a comparable basis.

Non-interest expenditures amount to BGN 5,465.3 million, increasing by BGN 831.1 million, or 17.9%, compared to those reported in January 2024. Non-interest current expenditures amount to BGN 5,244.5 million. Capital expenditures (including net increment of state reserve) amount to BGN 219.2 million. The current and capital transfers to other countries amount to BGN 1.6 million. Interest payments amount to BGN 149.8 million (as against BGN 157.4 million reported for January 2024).

The CFP budget balance is positive, amounting to BGN 563.9 million (0.3% of the projected GDP), with the largest excess of revenues over expenditures reported in the budgets of municipalities (BGN 432.9 million). On a comparable basis (eliminating one-off revenues), the CFP balance is positive, amounting to BGN 0.2 billion (0.1 of the projected GDP).

The fiscal reserve as of 31.01.2025 is BGN 12.1 billion, including BGN 10.5 billion of fiscal reserve deposits in the BNB and in banks and BGN 1.6 billion of receivables under the EU Funds for certified expenditures, advance payments, etc.

The Consolidated Fiscal Programme implementation data as of 31 January 2025 are published on the website of the Ministry of Finance, in the Statistics section. The statistics is accompanied by an Information Bulletin on the Execution of the State Budget and the Main Indicators of the Consolidated Fiscal Programme, which represents a short analysis of the performance of the key budget parameters on a consolidated level and by constituent budgets.