Bulgaria's consolidated Budget gap shrinks to 650M leva in H1 2011
Bulgaria's Budget deficit contracted to 649.7 million leva in the first half of 2011 from 1.514 billion leva in the same period of the previous year, the Finance Ministry's consolidated report showed on August 1 2011.The figure is 0.9 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) forecast in 2011, against 2.2 per cent registered in 2010.In June alone, the Budget ended up in a deficit of 52.7 million leva.Revenues rose by 7.69 per cent on a consolidated basis to 12.04 billion leva, or 46 per cent of the volume projected for the entire 2011. Total spending amounted to 12.69 billion leva, about 45 per cent of the Government's target.Value-added tax (VAT), the largest single contributor to the budget, stood at 2.91 billion leva, accounting for 45 per cent of the planned amount. Excise receipts made up 1.7 billion leva, again 45 per cent of the target.The slowdown in indirect tax collection, which is contingent on the pace of consumption in the country, was partially mitigated by direct tax revenues - the corporate revenue tax and flat income tax paid by individuals, where the rate of collection reached 58 per cent and 51 per cent of the target, respectively. (Source: The Sofia Echo)