Minister Temenuzhka Petkova: The 2025 budget is one of the biggest challenges

"The 2025 budget is one of the biggest challenges facing the new government. What has happened in Bulgaria over the past nearly four years is, to put it mildly, worrying. We all see the consequences. The deficit is 18 billion leva and ways must be sought to overcome it. At the same time, we have the opportunity to enter the eurozone and this chance should not be wasted. We will make every effort to ensure that Bulgaria has stable public finances again." This was stated by the Minister of Finance Temenuzhka Petkova upon taking office today.

When handing over the post, the current Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Lyudmila Petkova stated that for 2024 our country has closed the budget with a deficit of 3%, which is the fulfillment of one of the criteria for membership in the eurozone. "Regarding the price stability criterion, we are waiting for official inflation data in order to submit a request for extraordinary convergence reports to the European Commission (EC) and the European Central Bank (ECB). Perhaps it would be good for our country to submit this request by the end of January, and such are the negotiations with the EC and the ECB. They expect exactly this from us," commented Lyudmila Petkova.

According to her, the draft budget for 2025 is yet to be discussed, which priority policies will be implemented and, accordingly, funds will be found for their implementation.