Tripartite Council fails to reach unanimity on the draft state budget

The National Council for Tripartite Cooperation failed to reach unanimity on the draft State Budget Act, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Galab Donev said after presenting the main parameters of the draft budget during the council meeting. The budget deficit is projected at 5.7% of GDP in 2026, 3.8% of GDP in 2027, and 3.0% of GDP in 2028.

The Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA) abstained from supporting the draft budget, BICA member Rumen Radev said, describing it as "a budget of postponed reforms."

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The Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) gives conditional support to the draft budget, its representative Dobri Mitrev said. Tsvetan Simeonov of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) said that the chamber supports the draft budget.

The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) will support the budget if the mechanism for setting the minimum wage is preserved and the planned 10% cut in personnel spending is postponed, said Plamen Dimitrov, President of CITUB. “We cannot give firm support to the draft budget for the remaining months of the year”, Podkrepa Confederation of Labour Vice President Ioannis Parteniotis said, reported the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA).

Edited by Ivo Ivanov

Translated by Kostadin Atanasov