Bulgaria's budget deficit at EUR 332m in Jan-Feb 2011
Bulgaria's budget deficit came in at BGN 650 million in the first two months of 2011, Finance Minister Simeon Djankov said on Friday.
In February alone, expenditures outstripped revenue by BGN 170 million.
Experts from the ministry said, however, that by the end of March, when official figures for the second month of the year would be published, the gap could turn out to be BGN 100 million higher than the announced figure, or BGN 270 million, bringing the cumulative shortfall for January to February to BGN 750 million.
Djankov also said in parliament the implementation of the budget was going by schedule and the fact that the deficit had already swelled to one third of the country's full-year goal was not disturbing, as he expected higher revenue in the coming months which would provide for meeting the budget target.
Bulgaria's budget deficit stood at about BGN 1.45 billion in the first two months of 2010. /Source: Dnevnik/