The largest party in government does not give any sign of a possible rejection of unpopular and unexpected measures in the draft budget 2026. Alternative unpopular measures such as changes to the existing wage legislation in individual sectors cannot be expected either.
This showed the participation of the deputy chairman of the GERB-SDS group in the National Assembly, Denitsa Sacheva, in the BNR studio.
“We have already commented on this budget as the only possible one. We do not think that it is necessary to be praised, but it reflects reality and the legislation that was adopted”, commented Sacheva. In response to a question that GERB contributed to the increase in wages in the power sector, Sacheva answered in the affirmative with the argument that wages were at low levels. However, she refused to allow at all the opportunity to amend existing legislation, which provides for an automatic increase in wages in the sector by another 12%. From her words, it was understood that there is no agreement for such changes in the parties supporting the budget and it will be necessary to search for floating majorities.
“We categorically would not like to look for floating majorities when adopting a budget. We cannot afford to look for one or another majority, because it will look better. The task is to secure all the necessary revenues in order to be able to implement effective legislative texts. 67% of the budget are payments for salaries, social and health insurance payments”, commented Sacheva. She added that there is no majority for tough structural reforms and the rulers do not want to enter the eurozone in a way that will add oil to the mill of its opponents.
Sacheva did not shed any light on the issue of whether it is possible to get to the point of abandoning individual measures, as there were hints. In response to a question about the upcoming conversation in the tripartite council, whose first session on budgets failed, Sacheva replied that she believed the government would get an understanding from business, without going into any specifics about what that meant.
The decision to preemptively increase the amount of insurance is due to the record-breaking transfer that the state has to make. The transfer reached a record 12.4 billion BGN, just over 48%. The decision is a preventive reaction to much bigger problems in the budget of DOO, explained Sacheva. She pointed out that in 2030, 110,000 people will retire, and 50,000 people will enter the market. It is not clear at what exact moment the rulers realized this, since the deficit in the system is structural and long-standing, and why their plans initially provided for raising the insurances on another laugh, from 2027.
CRITICS
Draft budget 2026, which the rulers did not officially present, reaped a new portion of criticism. All three draft budgets for the next year – of the health fund, of the state social insurance and the big budget of the state, were late and do not provide answers to key questions. There are no guarantees for the salaries of young doctors, there is no clarity as to what kind of pension reform will be made, there is a disproportionate increase in remuneration without any sign from the line ministers that they will propose changes, commented Hasan Ademov, the MP from the “Alliance for Rights and Freedoms” on the air of BNR.
“The draft budget of the state contains a disproportionate and unbalanced increase in salaries in the public sector. I am not saying that there should be no income policy, but here it is about mechanical mechanisms for tying the remuneration to the average salary. What should Minister Temenuzhka Petkova do in order to get the sector ministers to make reforms. Former Interior Minister Prof. Veselin Vuchkov made the structural organization of the Ministry of Internal Affairs system useless”, commented Ademov.
Ademov also expressed bewilderment about the state social security budget. “On November 14, a number of institutions should submit a road map for the improvement of the pension system. We do not know anything about these intentions – what part of them entered the budget apart from the increase in contributions”, asked Ademov.
A resource for ensuring the salaries of young doctors has been set aside – 260 million euros, but there is no clarity as to how this money will actually be distributed, commented Ademov. He added that the promised levels of 1,860 euros per young specialist and 1,550 euros for average medical staff cannot be distributed by the NHIF simply because the fund is a public institution and does not have the right to conduct a remuneration management policy. “The managers understood this and are now talking about providing these funds through the price of clinical paths, but they are a matter of collective bargaining. It will not be a fact in January, and apart from that, young specialists are excluded from it”, added Ademov. He was adamant that his criticism was in good faith and a solution must be found.
Asen Vasilev: We have indicated what should be cut in the budget
Asen Vassilev, the chairman of “Continuing the Change”, also proposed his version of cutting revenues and, hence, spending in the budget. On the air of BNR, Vassilev presented the accounts presented earlier in the week by the party, which show which revenues should be cut and what should be dropped in the expenditure part. Vassilev was adamant that the draft budget could be improved. The party proposes that in the revenue part, revenues in the amount of 1.875 billion euros should be crossed out and eliminated, including the raising of dividend tax and insurances. Against the reduction of these revenues, the same amount should be deducted from the expenditure part of the budget in order not to exceed the deficit of 3%. The party has a comprehensive list of possible fixes. Vassilev once again accused GERB-SDS of being more left-wing than BSP.
In situations of covid crisis, energy crisis, we did not increase taxes, they are doing it now, Vasilev commented. He reiterated the party’s political message that this was done to provide money for clubs and money for “piggy banks” to be easily used by the cabinet.
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