site.btaEmployers' Organizations Unanimously Support Government's Proposed Poverty Line

Employers' organizations unanimously supported the government's proposed poverty line. This transpired on Tuesday at a meeting of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation, which discussed a decree of the Council of Ministers setting the poverty line for the country for 2026 at BGN 764.

The poverty line is a monetary indicator used in the development of state policy in the area of income and living standards and in determining social protection measures, the amount of which is determined annually, according to the draft decree.

The proposed value of BGN 764 corresponds to the poverty line from the Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) survey, with the national poverty line increasing by 19.7% (BGN 126) compared to the previous year and expands the scope of social assistance, said Labour and Social Policy Minister Borislav Gutsanov in a report on the subject.

Teodor Dechev from the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA)) said he supports the proposal of the Council of Ministers. There have been calls to review the methodology for determining the poverty line again, Dechev said. He questioned the point of this, given that the methodology has already been reviewed. “We are open to discussion, but we are skeptical about changing the methodology, Teodor Dechev said.

Shteryo Nozharov from the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) said that the organization supports the proposed poverty line, which is lawful and complies with the regulations. The BIA is against indexing the poverty line with the so-called small consumer basket, as this is statistically unacceptable. “We cannot measure the relative distribution of income among groups in society with an absolute change in prices,” said Nozharov.

Tsvetan Simeonov from the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) also said that they support the poverty line proposed by the government. “We will contribute to more active work in the implementation of the National Strategy for Poverty Reduction and Social Inclusion, Simeonov noted. In his words, it is unacceptable for the number of socially disadvantaged people to increase in a country that is a member of the EU, Schengen, and the eurozone.

The Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria (CEIB) also supported the draft decree of the Council of Ministers.