According to Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova, the Budget Law adopted by parliament in its first reading guarantees Bulgaria's long-term financial sustainability. At the end of next year, the state debt will reach 31% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The treasury should end with a 3% deficit of the GDP. Deputy Prime Minister and member of the Bulgarian Socialist Party Atanas Zafirov also defended the document and called for no "purposeless changes" between the first and second readings. According to him, the draft budget contains measures with which the ruling coalition cannot compromise, and therefore it should be adopted without significant adjustments.

"Any budget can be better, it depends on how you look at it," former GERB Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov admitted to the Bulgarian National Radio, but stressed that the proposed draft is a possible compromise: "The budget is what the current coalition majority would support."

The introduction of the euro (scheduled for January 1, 2026) gives additional importance to the budget debates. The government claims that the increase in incomes – for example, the minimum wage – is necessary to "calm down the concerns" of the population about the currency change. In this regard, it is planned that the minimum wage will reach 620 euros from the beginning of 2026. 

The changes included in the 2026 Budget also provide for an increase in social security contributions by 2 percent from January 1,.2026 and another 1 percent from January 1, 2028, an increase in the maximum social security income to 2,352 euros (which is an increase of 11.4% compared to the current one), an increase in pensions under the so-called "Swiss rule" by nearly 8% from July 1, 2026.

"Brutally unbalanced and unfeasible" – this is how Acad. Nikolay Denkov defines the government budget. He also notes that some sectors (including high-wage sectors) are receiving significant increases, while private business is "extremely badly hit." 

In an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio, he emphasized that criticism of the budget comes from all sides - from the opposition, from employers and from unions, and rejected attempts to link the dissatisfaction with the upcoming introduction of the euro. According to him, the dispute is not about the currency, but about the structure of the budget itself: "To say that someone who protests against the budget is against the euro is absolutely unacceptable," Nikolay Denkov was categorical.

The main criticism from the employers' side is related to the mechanical increase in revenues through higher social security burdens and expansion of spending, without reforms. According to them, this is a short-term solution that will weaken economic activity and will not ensure sustainable financing of the systems. They warn that increasing the social security burden will increase labour costs by 8-10% and push up prices, slow down investment and expand the shadow economy.

The unions, for their part, insist on a more significant increase in wages, arguing that inflation is already 5.3% and a 5% increase in personnel costs in the public sector is extremely insufficient, since real income growth is becoming negative. Dissatisfaction in various sectors of the state administration is already a fact. Protests have begun with the threat of strikes by representatives of the National Statistical Institute and the National Social Security Institute, who demanded a 20% increase in wages. 

In the week of November 24, the trade union CITUB again have announced protest actions, demanding an income policy that would guarantee a 10% increase in wages in the public sector.

Photos: BTA, BGNES