Bulgaria reports January-February Budget deficit lower than forecast
Bulgaria’s Finance Ministry has said that the consolidated Budget deficit for the first two months of 2015 was 105.5 million leva, or 0.1 per cent of forecast gross domestic product, below its earlier forecast that put the deficit at 130 million leva.
The figure was the lowest deficit recorded in the first two months of a calendar year since 2010, the ministry said. At the same stage of last year, the deficit was 688.2 million leva.
The Finance Ministry said that it expected the Budget to swing to a surplus of 250 million leva at the end of March, which would make it the first time a surplus would be recorded in the first quarter of the year since 2009.
In January-February, the state Budget had a surplus of 73.3 million leva and the EU funds deficit was 178.9 million leva. Bulgaria’s contribution to the EU budget for the first two months of 2015 was 226.3 million leva.
Higher revenue was the main reason for the improvement, the ministry said in a statement. Revenue in the first two months of 2015 was 4.76 billion leva, an improvement of 13.3 per cent compared to the same period of last year.
Tax revenues were up 18.4 per cent compared to the first two months of last year, at 3.85 billion leva.
Budget spending was 4.87 billion leva.
(Photo: Alessandro Paiva)