Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Economist Mihail Krastev: The budget deficit exceeds 3 billion BGN, the situation continues to worsen

Mihail Krastev
Photo: Yuliana Kornazheva

''The data is alarming because it does not reflect the real picture of the deficit in the treasury. In the spring of 2024, the Bulgarian National Bank made a contribution to the budget, that it was not obliged to make and which cannot be expected to happen annually. If we add these over 600 million BGN, the deficit exceeds 2 billion BGN. According to data from the Ministry of Finance, over 1 billion BGN of the available budget is money for municipalities. Effectively, the budget deficit exceeds 3 billion BGN (EUR 1.5 billion) and the situation continues to worsen'', economist Mihail Krastev said in an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio. "However, this is not the prerogative of politicians in the political crisis we are in – they do not talk about finance, economics, or social policies, but only about their internal party interests'', said Mihail Krastev.

According to the economist, the crisis in public finances can be solved either by generating new debt or by increasing the tax burden on businesses and households, "which is happening gradually anyway, even though politicians claim that there is no such thing". He added that this is happening through the increase of the maximum monthly insurable income and the minimum wage.

''We are close to the economic nonsense of having the minimum wage approach or even equal the average wage in some parts of the country", Mihail Krastev further stated, predicting that this narrowing gap will lead to cataclysms.




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

About 700,000 Bulgarians with disabilities need support

About 700,000 people with varying degrees of disability need various social services and support. This was announced by the Minister of Labor and Social Policy Borislav Gutsanov at the Center for Social Rehabilitation and Integration..

published on 3/18/25 4:29 PM

Condition of the Kočani fire victims receiving treatment in Bulgaria remains serious

The condition of the 14 victims of the tragic incident in the Republic of North Macedonia, who have been admitted for treatment in Bulgaria, remains serious, the Ministry of Health announced. The eight patients hospitalized in the..

published on 3/18/25 2:49 PM

President and Speaker of the Parliament express condolences at the North Macedonian Embassy

We are waiting for North Macedonia to decide whether there is a need to transport 10 more of the Kočani fire victims to Bulgaria. This was what President Rumen Radev said after signing the book of condolences at the Embassy of North..

published on 3/18/25 1:25 PM