20.11.2012

This Government has allocated BGN 9 billion more for pensions compared to the former government, said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Simeon Djankov in an interview for BNT. He added that the current Cabinet allocated much more funds for the social area even at times of an economic crisis. Mr. Djankov also mentioned the data of the National Audit Office for the last four years showing that the GERB government had allocated around BGN 2.7 billion more compared to the previous government. "This makes almost BGN 700 million more per year for healthcare. Where are those BGN 700 million? They have been allocated for healthcare but is there anyone satisfied with the healthcare services?", he said and added "The conclusion I make is that no matter how much money is allocated for this sector, there will be no change without making a major reform. This reform cannot be made by the Ministry of Finance but rather by the healthcare sector itself, i.e. the Ministry of Health, NHIF, the doctors' union and the patients'. The Finance Minister rebuked the Tri-partite coalition for "not paying their liabilities of BGN 2,160 billion for the water mirror project, the heliocpters deal".