site.btaBudget Committee Approves 2026 State Budget Bill after Marathon Session

The draft 2026 State Budget Bill was approved at second reading by Parliament's Budget and Finance Committee after an extraordinary session lasting more than 12 hours.

Lawmakers considered 69 amendments submitted between the first and second readings of the bill, which envisages a deficit of 5.7% of GDP. Most opposition proposals sought to increase social spending, particularly support for families, but all were rejected. Members of the ruling majority said additional social measures would be included in the 2027 budget.

The committee rejected proposals to increase tax relief for children, preserve the Commission for Files as an independent body, raise the VAT registration threshold, retain automatic pay mechanisms for military and interior ministry personnel, increase gambling fees, ban gambling advertising, and maintain the current mechanism for setting the minimum wage.

Lawmakers approved postponing until January 1, 2027, amendments to the Labour Code introducing hourly calculation of employment service. Labour and Social Policy Minister Natalia Efremova said the measure is intended to curb the shadow economy and ensure workers' rights correspond to actual hours worked.

The committee also approved reducing the number of board members of public enterprises from five to three, while allowing exceptions for strategically important companies. 

The draft budget projects revenues, grants and donations of EUR 49.6 billion and total expenditure of EUR 56.8 billion. It is based on expected economic growth of 2.6% and average annual inflation of 4.3%.

The maximum amount of new government debt that may be assumed in 2026 is set at EUR 10.1 billion, including up to EUR 3.261 billion under the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) instrument. Public debt is projected to reach EUR 37.7 billion, or 30.1% of GDP.