site.bta2025 Budget Extension Act Revisions Approved Conclusively by Parliamentary Budget Committee

The National Assembly Budget and Finance Committee on Tuesday approved on second reading a government-proposed bill to amend and supplement the 2025 Budget Extension Act.

The draft legislation must be adopted urgently because the original budget extension law applies until March 31, 2026. The 2025 Budget Extension Act as amended and supplemented will remain in effect until the adoption of a regular 2026 State Budget Act.

Under the extension law, the Council of Ministers will be able to negotiate and agree with the European Commission on a EUR 3.26 billion loan under the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) Instrument for financial assistance for investments in defence capabilities. The agreement will be subject to subsequent ratification.

The bill as moved by the caretaker Cabinet enables municipality mayors to finance expenditures on local activities in amounts exceeding the previous year's expenditures but limited to the municipality's own revenues for the period concerned.

GERB-UDF, BSP-United Left and MRF-New Beginning have entered motions allowing municipalities to spend resources left from past periods, as demanded by the National Association of Municipalities. 

For their part, Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria have entered a motion on a way the municipalities can finance their capital expenditures, which has been formulated by the Finance Ministry. This was the only motion that the Committee rejected, while approving all other motions benefiting municipalities. The lawmakers agreed that the version of these provisions will be finalized by the Ministry and the Association before going to the full house for a conclusive second-reading vote.

The Committee also approved a motion by Delyan Dobrev MP of GERB-UDF, according to which the Council of Ministers will issue EUR 91.9 million State guarantees for financing an extension of the Bulgartransgaz gas-transmission infrastructure in connection with the implementation of the Vertical Gas Corridor linking Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine and Moldova. 

On a motion by Jordan Tzonev MP of MRF-New Beginning, the Budget Committee approved provisions giving commercial banks in Bulgaria access, via the National Revenue Agency, to data from the Employment Register and personal data and tax and social-security information on socially insured persons for the purposes of assessing clients' creditworthiness.

The Committee rejected a EUR 6.5 million State budget transfer to the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission, proposed by Tzonev, to offset electricity customers' expenditures on checking 100,000 electricity and gas meters in the context of current complaints about excessive utility bills.

The Committee also turned down a motion by Pavela Mitova and other MPs of There Is Such a People (TISP) for cutting the State subsidy for political parties to BGN 1 per vote received, setting the minimum amount of medical specialists' salaries at 125% of the average wage, and paying monthly fuel price compensations supporting transport, public transport, kindergartens, agriculture and a number of other sectors.

Other TISP motions that were rejected include raising the VAT registration level to EUR 100,000 and increasing the maximum permissible amount of a cash payment to EUR 10,000.