Bulgaria January-April 2021 Budget surplus at 171.6M leva
Bulgaria’s Finance Ministry said on May 31 that the consolidated Budget surplus for the first four months of 2021 was 171.6 million leva, exceeding the ministry’s forecast of 115.4 million leva issued last month.
This was a sharp decline from last year, when Bulgaria recorded a Budget surplus of 1.63 billion leva in January-April. For May, the ministry forecast a Budget deficit of 173 million leva at the end of the month.
The main reason for the budget balance swinging into black was the payment of 660 million leva, the initial concession fee for Sofia Airport, the ministry said.
The state Budget had a surplus of 372.6 million leva and the EU funds recorded a deficit of 200.9 million leva at the end of April. Bulgaria’s contribution to the EU budget for the first four months of 2021 was 574.9 million leva.
Revenue in January-April was 16.71 billion leva, an increase of 14.3 per cent compared to the same period of last year. Tax revenues were 12.7 billion leva, an increase of 9.9 per cent compared to January-April 2020.
Budget spending was up to 16.54 billion leva in the first four months of the year, compared to 12.99 billion leva in the same period of 2020. The increase was mainly due to spending on social and economic measures meant to overcome the negative effects of Covid-19, as well as higher spending in the social sector, the ministry said.
(Illustration: svilen001/sxc.hu)
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