16.04.2014

The papers adopted by the Government show the observance of our specific commitments and priorities in the social and investment sphere. This is what Minister of Finance Petar Chobanov said at the press conference held after the Government approved the Medium-Term Budget Forecast (MTBF) 2015-2017, the 2014 update to the National Reform Programme (NRP) and the Convergence Programme. All three papers are part of the so-called European Semester. Minister Chobanov said that MTBF planned an increase in the minimum wage and in the pensions according to the Swiss rule. According to him, in 2015 the allowance for disabled children would be increased, more money would be granted to foster families and more possibilities would be sought for the expansion of the national employment plan. The Minister of Finance added that BGN 100 million would be set aside in next year's budget for Christmas and Easter bonuses for pensioners. The main focus of the NRP is on enhancing the social aspects of policies, youth unemployment, improving the business climate and reducing the administrative burden and better revenue collection, Mr. Chobanov explained.

As to investment, in 2015 the Government plans again BGN 300 million for municipal projects under the Growth and Sustainable Development of the Regions Public Investment Programme, as well as an additional limit of BGN 100 million for government investment loans to support the successful closure of the Transit Roads V project. Mr. Petar Chobanov said that the key message of the three papers was that the Government "continues the strategy to follow fiscal discipline which however combines with economic growth acceleration, includes vulnerable social groups and leads to overcoming regional disparities".

The Minister of Finance reminded that for the first time in recent years the cash-basis deficit at end-2013 was higher than that on accrual basis. According to him, this was due to the normalised refund of VAT made according to the order of the received requests, the payments under EU programmes, including those made at the end of the year, and the settlement of delayed payments. Mr. Chobanov said that the 2013 data were the net result achieved without retaining VAT and other payments made by the state. He specified that some structural changes had been made this year to increase revenue, such as introduction of fiscal control, reverse charge mechanism and some measures aimed to collect declared but not paid liabilities. The new Rule of Procedure of the Bulgarian Customs Agency centralise the mobile teams by including representatives of other institutions as well, which proves effective concerning the detection of narcotic substances and detained quantities of excise goods.