The ruling majority has no plans to bring the budget deficit below 3%, Democratic Bulgaria (DB) MPs Martin Dimitrov and Vladislav Panev said before an emergency meeting of parliament's budget and finance committee. As proof, they pointed to bills that scrap the correction mechanisms and the rules that cap spending.
Among other items, the committee is looking at changes to the Fiscal Council and Automatic Correction Mechanisms Act and to the Public Finance Act.
Instead of cutting the deficit, the ruling majority is removing the rules on corrections and spending cuts, Dimitrov said. In his view, everyone will pay the bill. "By dropping the correction rules, the ruling majority is saying it will do what it wants and spend like a madman with a machine gun for as long as it governs," he said.
Dimitrov said the loans that flow into the economy push up demand and then prices, and the situation is becoming critical. He noted that the rise in natural gas prices was announced a day after the election. He expects a hard winter with huge inflation, poor external conditions and an unreasonable government that, in his words, does nothing but produce inflation.
Dimitrov said that full power does not give the ruling majority immunity from blame, and that it must act on the deficit. The budget is a moment that must not be missed, he said.
DB also came out against a new proposal that will most likely be announced on Friday. Under it, 2.5 points, or half of the second pension pillar, would no longer go to private pension funds but straight to the National Social Security Institute (NOI).
Dimitrov said people can already move their money to the NOI if they wish, while the ruling majority wants to do it for them automatically. He called the step nationalisation and an attack on private funds. If they do it to private pension funds, they can do it to anything, he said.
Panev called the proposal a new tax and said no one has done such a thing before, even in a deep crisis. He put the new burden on people at €1bn, close to 1% of GDP.
"Just two days after the run-off, the ruling majority is showing its horns and shooting at the public finances," Panev said. He said the ruling majority is cutting the deficit not by trimming spending but by raising more revenue at people's expense, when the deficit should come down through spending cuts.
Panev also said it is an open secret that every year since the pandemic, spending has been understated and revenue inflated to keep the deficit at 3%.
Dimitrov recalled that there were cases of a hidden deficit under GERB and DPS, and he asked for a check that is carried through to the end. Audits by the National Audit Office for 2020–2026 show irregularities, a hidden deficit and budget carry-overs.
A journalist asked about the fact that DB also governed in that period. Dimitrov replied that each case must be examined to see who was finance minister and who allowed it. He insisted on full and final specifics.