Bulgaria's Finance Ministry reports improvement in budget balance in July

Bulgaria received EUR 1 billion under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) last week, Prime Minister Rumen Radev announced at the start of the government meeting on August 5.

The funding will support key projects, including the construction of kindergartens, the renovation of public buildings for greater energy efficiency, the expansion of the Sofia metro, the purchase of medical helicopters and the development of battery energy storage facilities, the prime minister said.

He also noted that in recent weeks the government had successfully renegotiated part of the commitments related to the fifth payment under the Recovery and Resilience Plan. According to the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA), work is also continuing to secure funding under the Just Transition Fund for the regions of Stara Zagora, Kyustendil and Pernik.

The Ministry of Finance expects the budget deficit to stand at EUR 2.2 billion by the end of July, equivalent to 1.7% of the projected GDP. The ministry noted that this marks an improvement compared with the end of June, when the deficit exceeded EUR 2.4 billion, or 1.9% of projected GDP.

Edited by Ivo Ivanov