Budget 2027: Radev holds firm on pensions despite EU call for deep cuts
The draft is to go to parliament by the end of October. The prime minister called the 3.5-4% deficit target "extremely ambitious" – EU funding also depends on it.
Symbolic image · Photo: Radosław Botev / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 pl (cropped and resized)
Bulgaria's government will submit its draft 2027 budget to parliament by the end of October, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said in Veliko Tarnovo, according to the BTA news agency. "The European Commission's recommendations are to drastically cut spending so that we can reduce the deficit," he said. Certain priorities are nevertheless not negotiable: pensions, maternity benefits, tax relief for children, wage increases and the guaranteed minimum income. Talks with Brussels are continuing and, according to Radev, are very difficult.
The actual deficit currently stands at 5.7%, the prime minister said. The target for next year is between 3.5% and 4%. "This is an extremely ambitious task," Radev said, adding that EU funding for next year and under the next multiannual financial framework depends to a large extent on meeting it. Defense will be a key focus of the budget because of NATO commitments and the situation in the Black Sea region.
In the budgetary plan sent to the European Commission and the Eurogroup on Oct. 15, the Finance Ministry set a 2027 deficit target of 4.3% of GDP, with the excessive deficit procedure to end by 2029. The plan foresees pensions rising about 8%, public-sector wages 5%, and a one-off windfall profits levy expected to raise about 800 million euros. It is Bulgaria's first budget as a member of the euro area.