Deputy PM Atanas Pekanov is against sharp reduction of the budget deficit

My goal is to have over 90% of funds received under the Recovery and Resilience Plan, Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov has told BNT. According to him, many ministries must implement their investment projects. "We have 56 stages and goals for the fifth payment and we have not reported any as completed at the moment, while we have 50 days," Pekanov warned.

He described as an extremely bad idea that in just half a year or a year the budget deficit should be reduced from 4.5-5% to below 3%. "This will be an exceptional contraction of the economy, an exceptional suffocation and believe me, it will be bad for all of us, for citizens, for business as well, if consumption suddenly decreases so much. The steps should be smooth," Pekanov said and admitted that there would be a need for optimization in the public sector.

Editor: Ivo Ivanov