05.10.2012

The 2013 budget is a budget of increasing income. This is how the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Simeon Djankov announces the draft state budget in an interview for the Standard Daily. The Finance Minister lays emphasis on the substantial increase in several main items, the largest of them being pensions. BGN 600 million are needed for their increase as from 1 April 2013, which is an average 9.3% and will compensate for the inflation accrued since mid-2009. The amendments also concern the minimum wage which is linked to several social payments, as well as a sizeable increase in the salaries of those working in the sectors of education and culture, Djankov adds.

The 2013 budget deficit remains at the levels of last year, while VAT is expected to be the main source of revenue, Minister Djankov points out. According to him, this is due to the trend of a higher VAT growth since 2010, as well as due to the connection of companies' fiscal devices to the NRA.