site.btaVP Iotova on 2026 State Budget: Signs Are More than Alarming

Vice President Iliana Iotova commented on Friday on the upcoming 2026 State Budget, which will be the country’s first in euro, saying that “the signs are more than alarming.” She took part in the opening of a scientific conference at the National Library in Sofia.

“We need to make a serious assessment when we see the overall parameters of the budget. The draft is still not a fact. There are various explanations as to why it has been delayed for so long. We all expected that since we are preparing the country’s first budget in euro, it should have been ready by now. It should have been presented and opened to a broader public discussion, not just confined within the ruling coalition,” the Vice President commented.

“A few months later, this budget and the discussions surrounding it show how right President Rumen Radev was when he asked - and wished, through a referendum - to assess how ready we really are for the introduction of the euro. Since yesterday, we have the acknowledgement of the Fiscal Council that figures were manipulated when we requested the convergence reports, revealing that our deficit is significantly higher than what is officially presented. We are asking ourselves - who are we deceiving? All these consequences are falling upon us, the Bulgarian people. I hope that in the coming days we will hear more about what kind of economy Bulgaria will have, because so far we have only seen accounting tables and nothing more,” Iotova added.

“When a ruling majority and a government do not respect the law, this is a sign and an element of a deep crisis. If they do not comply with the laws, how can we expect Bulgarian citizens to do so?” the Vice President also said.

She described the situation surrounding the minimum wage in the country - which the government announced Thursday will be set at EUR 620 - as a manoeuvre. “It was theatre - from the very beginning they knew they had to follow the law, but they preferred to present themselves to Bulgarian society as particularly generous,” said Iotova.

When asked by journalists about the intention to increase social security contributions and whether this concerns people, the Vice President replied: “Of course it would concern them. It is obvious that our treasury needs new funds, because the deficit is getting bigger and bigger.”