16.01.2025

“The 2025 budget is one of the biggest challenges for the new government. What has happened over the last almost four years in Bulgaria is alarming, to put it mildly. We all see the consequences. The deficit is BGN 18 billion and we must find ways to cut it down. At the same time, we have an opportunity to join the euro area and we should not waste it. We will make every effort to ensure that Bulgaria has sound public finances again”. This is what Minister of Finance Temenuzhka Petkova said upon taking office today.

During the hand-over ceremony, the already former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Lyudmila Petkova said that Bulgaria ended 2024 with a deficit of 3%, which was in compliance with one of the criteria for euro area membership. “Regarding the price stability criterion, we are awaiting the official inflation data in order to submit a request to the European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) for extraordinary convergence reports. It is maybe good for Bulgaria to submit this request by the end of January as this is what has been negotiated with the Commission and the ECB. It is what they expect from us”, Lyudmila Petkova said.

According to her, as regards the 2025 draft budget, there would be discussions on the priority policies to be implemented and on finding the resources for their implementation, respectively.