Asen Vasilev, leader of We Continue the Change and a former finance minister, says the government's inflation forecasts in the 2027 budget are unrealistic. He wrote on Facebook that the draft has no anti-crisis package and that investment will fall by more than expected.
The ruling parties presented the draft on Friday at the University of National and World Economy (UNWE). The same day, GERB, DPS, Democratic Bulgaria, We Continue the Change and Vazrazhdane said they would not vote for it. They say high inflation will make people poorer.
Where it began: Opposition in parliament will not back 2027 budget
Vasilev also sees some good points. He says the ruling parties listened to the criticism and proposals his party made on the 2026 budget. The draft raises both the maximum and the minimum insurable income. People will pay more, but they also get more rights. Most social payments go up, the maximum pension rises from July 2027, and the minimum and maximum unemployment benefits increase. Vasilev sees the biggest gain in larger tax breaks for working parents.
Some of the rises are small. School grants go up by €4 a month, and child grants by €4.43. Vasilev says people may see this as a sign that no one treats them with normal respect.
The government assumes inflation of 4% and a deflator of 5.7% (the deflator shows the overall rise in prices across the economy). Vasilev says both figures will probably be twice as high as the Finance Ministry forecasts. The budget has no steps to curb price rises at the production stage. There is a little money for a price cap on electricity for business, but no compensation for costly diesel, gas and fertiliser. There is also no buffer at all.
"The budget is like a skyscraper built on the foundations of a one-storey house," Vasilev wrote.
He does not trust the investment figures either. The cabinet expects firms to invest €3bn more in 2027 than in 2026. Vasilev does not call this impossible, but thinks it unlikely. He blames the windfall profit tax, small compensation for electricity and high gas and diesel prices. He calls the macro framework for investment confused. He says public investment will collapse, business will make up only part of the gap, and the fall will be at least €4bn, not €1bn.
Vasilev names growing poverty and weaker spending among the budget's biggest problems. Under the old formula the minimum wage would have reached €690, but the draft sets it at €660. He writes that this cuts spending by the poorest and again widens inequality.
The poverty line is €443, and the minimum pension will be €374. People on that pension will be short by about €70 a month for bills, medicine and bread. Vasilev says another 500,000 pensioners will fall below the poverty line, bringing the total to more than 1.2m.
Vasilev says business will pay more taxes, and a wider range of them, which will cut spending and investment. He says nothing in the draft eases firms' higher costs. The only breaks are a higher VAT registration threshold of €70,000 and a bigger tax break for children. Vasilev says Radev compared the budget to a lorry with no brakes.
"The mistakes call for completely new, realistic planning and/or a rethink of the core policies: incomes, taxes and investment," Vasilev wrote.
He promised a separate episode of "Pero po Pero" in which he will explain his party's proposals on the 2026 budget and the ideas behind them.