Meeting the unions and employer organizations at an emergency meeting focused on the 2027 draft budget, Finance Minister Galab Donev said that the government has proposed a budget that aims to restore fiscal sustainability while maintaining support for incomes and investments.
Before Donev took the floor, the social partners stated their position on the proposed state budget and the budgets of the National Health Insurance Fund and the Public Social Security for 2027.
Here is what Donev also said:
“To achieve this, the budget provides for measures to improve revenue collection, prevent tax and social security contribution evasion and non-payment, and reduce the administrative burden and costs for businesses and citizens. Fiscal consolidation requires efforts from all of us, which is why dialogue with you is of key importance. […]
“The 2027 budget is a budget of responsibility. It reflects the government’s determination to address the inherited state of public finances and the accumulated imbalances. The measures we are proposing take into account the realistic scope for consolidation in 2027 and the following years, as well as the objectives and priorities of sectoral policies. […]
“Our overriding task is to ensure fiscal sustainability in the medium term. We cannot overlook the fact that the EU Council has stepped up the excessive deficit procedure against Bulgaria. The parameters of the 2027-2029 budget framework take this procedure and the recommendations for stabilising public finances in the medium and long term into account, to the extent that corrective measures can still be implemented this year.”
The Finance Minister presented the key budget parameters.
The draft budget projects a cash-basis deficit of 3.5% of GDP in 2027, narrowing to 3.1% in 2028 and 2.4% in 2029, according to the medium-term budget forecast. Total revenue, grants and donations under the Consolidated Fiscal Programme are expected to range between 35.6% and 36.1% of GDP over the 2027-2029 period. Consolidated fiscal programme expenditure is projected to fall from 43.5% of GDP in 2026 to 39.6% in 2027, followed by further reductions to 38.9% in 2028 and 38% in 2029. Government debt is expected to reach EUR 44.3 billion, or 31.4% of GDP, in 2027, with provision for new borrowing of up to EUR 8.6 billion, while the minimum fiscal reserve at the end of the year is set at EUR 2.6 billion. The minimum monthly wage is projected to stand at EUR 660 in 2027, while personnel expenditure at first-level budget spending units is to increase by 5% as of January 1, with elected officials and those covered by Article 69 of the Social Security Code (the defence and security sector) excluded. A total of EUR 170.5 million is earmarked for a 7.5% pay rise for teaching professionals from January 1, 2027. Work-related pensions are to be adjusted on July 1 under the so-called Swiss rule, with EUR 552.6 million allocated for the increase in 2027. Another EUR 72.5 million is earmarked for increasing the amounts of nine of the 12 types of family benefits for children, while EUR 114.3 million is allocated for higher social payments in line with the new poverty line of EUR 443 for 2027. The monthly childcare allowance for parents looking after children under the age of two is to increase to EUR 450, while mothers returning to work during the child’s second year would receive 75% of the allowance, compared with the current 50%. The minimum daily unemployment benefit is also to rise from EUR 9.21 to EUR 13. The draft provides for a 10% reduction in personnel expenditure throughout the year, with delegated budgets, municipalities and certain other categories exempted. Civil servants and employees covered by the Judiciary Act would pay their own social security contributions. An additional EUR 493 million is allocated for health insurance payments under the budget of the National Health Insurance Fund, while EUR 634.9 million is earmarked for compensation under temporary electricity price relief programmes, financed through the Electricity System Security Fund. Defence spending is projected at 2.23% of GDP in 2027, rising to 2.55% in 2029. Capital expenditure under the 2027 draft budget amounts to EUR 6.0186 billion, of which EUR 3.6284 billion is to be financed nationally and EUR 2.3902 billion through European funding, including the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The Finance Ministry published the 2027 draft budget on November 6 after it was presented by the Prime Minister and Finance Minister during an event in the University of National and World Economy.

Meeting with Employers and Unions, Government Says Budget Aims to Restore Fiscal Sustainability While Maintaining Income Support THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-11-12 04:16:09

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