Bulgarian MPs adopt final Budget amendments
Bulgarian lawmakers adopted the final Budget amendments with the stipulation that starting on January 1 2012, the budget deficit must not exceed two per cent, the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reported on June 30 2011.The changes also specify that the reallocation of funds from the Budget should not exceed 40 per cent of gross domestic product, the report said.The deputy head of the Blue Coalition party, Martin Dimitrov, said that they support the newly implemented measures for budgetary stability, although "they do not solve the problem completely," the BNT reported.The reaction from the opposition on the Left was that there is no country currently in the European Union which has adopted such a financial policy, saying that they want the amendments to come into force along with forthcoming constitutional changes.The aforementioned constitutional changes are part of the country's "stability pact". The pact comprises three sections, one proposing that changes to direct taxes could be implemented only if they had been backed by two thirds of MPs.The ministry also seeks to impose limits on the redistributive burden of the state, so that it would be allowed to spend no more than 37 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) a year.Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov said the changes will take effect staring January 1 2012, with which the Government will "assume the responsibility for the financial stability and policy in the country," the report said.Bulgaria's Cabinet agreed on June 29 to raise the country's minimum monthly salary to 270 leva from 240 leva currently and to hike widows' pensions by between 25 per cent and 26.5 per cent as of September 1.Last week, Dyankov said that the increase in the minimum salary would cost the Budget slightly more than 15 million leva by the end of 2011, while the hike in widows' pensions will require up to 50 million leva.The costs to be faced by the private sector, however, are seen to be much higher./Source: Sofia Echo/