Bulgarian MPs approve bill to prolong 2025 Budget Act provisions
Bulgaria’s National Assembly approved at first and second reading on December 17 a bill extending the duration of the provisions of the 2025 Budget Act until March 31 2026.
The 2026 Budget package has prompted large-scale protests and led to the resignation of Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov’s Cabinet last week.
Bulgaria’s law on public finances allows, in the absence of a Budget approved by Parliament, to extend the provisions of the previous year’s Budget.
Under this framework, central and local government will be able to continue to spend within the limits set in 2025 Budget, but not higher than the revenue collected in 2026. Given Bulgaria’s adoption of the euro starting January 1, these limits and revenue (denominated in leva), will have to be converted to euro.
Although most spending is to frozen at 2025 levels, the budget extension bill includes a provision to raise the salaries of employees in the public sector, excluding those receiving the minimum salary, by the same percentage as the 2025 inflation. That figure will be published by Bulgaria’s statistics body NSI in mid-January.
Bulgaria has made use of the budget extension mechanism in 2021 and 2022, when a series of short-lived parliaments failed to elect a government, delaying the passing of a Budget package.
Should no Government be in place by March 31, given that early elections are expected to be held either in late February or March, the National Assembly can extend the duration of the 2025 Budget by a further three months.
(Photo: parliament.bg)
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