Rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) on Friday evening changed its outlook on Bulgaria's long-term credit rating to stable, the Finance Ministry said. It confirmed the long- and short-term ratings in foreign and local currency at "BBB+/A-2".

The ministry said the outlook changed because of weaker budget and external-sector results, taken together.

The GERB party called on the Radev cabinet to read the agency's assessment correctly and not push the country into new crises. Two former finance ministers spoke at a briefing at the party's headquarters: Temenuzhka Petkova, an MP from the GERB-SDS group, and Vladislav Goranov, an MP in the 52nd National Assembly.

"I hope Rumen Radev's government will not show its usual arrogance," Petkova said. She warned that the rating could be cut without measures for fast budget consolidation, and so far there are none. Petkova called the draft budget a "budget illusion". She said the only thing in it is a cut in capital spending, because the Recovery Plan has ended and there are no reforms.

Goranov described the S&P decision as a lowering of the credit rating assessment. He said the assessment was raised in May, when the current government took office. Soon after, he said, the agency concluded that the country's performance gave no reason to keep the positive outlook.

Goranov named the causes: a large budget deficit that is not shrinking fast enough, rising consumption and falling investment. These, he said, are widening the current account deficit in the balance of payments. "This deficit means one thing – we borrow, we consume and we fund the rest of the world by importing more than we export," he said.

Goranov said the government solves none of society's problems and wastes our time. He said the situation would not be so dramatic without an absolute majority that claimed to know where it was going. GERB, as a constructive opposition, gave the ruling party time at the start, he added. Goranov admitted that some of the factors are not domestic. But he said that, apart from huge communication failures, the cabinet takes no steps to invest in something better.

The draft budget goes to its first reading in parliament next week. GERB will make the S&P assessment the basis of the debate.

Follow-up: Democratic Bulgaria wants new 2027 budget with deficit under 3% after S&P decision