site.btaYes, Bulgaria Party Urges Finance Minister to Withdraw Budget, Calls It "Harmful"

All assessments of the draft 2026 budget from various quarters have been extremely negative. “We want the budget returned immediately for revision. We will provide our 30 right-leaning, reasonable measures to ensure a more moderate and sensible budget with reforms,” Ivaylo Mirchev, co-chair of the Yes, Bulgaria party, told reporters in the parliamentary corridors on Wednesday.

According to Mirchev, the proposed budget is harmful to the country and risks putting it on a path which, in a few years, will lead to a situation similar to the period of hyperinflation and economic collapse in 1996-1997 during Zhan Videnov's government. Mirchev criticized what he described as “absurdities,” such as the introduction of state-approved software, which he said must be urgently stopped. Yes, Bulgaria, is calling on Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova to withdraw the budget immediately.

When asked whether pulling the budget now could risk delaying its adoption, Mirchev replied that a one-week delay now is preferable to dragging the country into a debt spiral. He also stressed that his party will not propose a progressive tax, which he described as unsuitable given Bulgaria’s current economic situation.

Martin Dimitrov, also from Yes, Bulgaria, said that the party (which belongs to the Democratic Bulgaria alliance which is a member of the Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria coalition) wants the government to stop its “war” on the business community and the middle class. “We want the proposed increase in the dividend tax removed, and no rise in social security contributions, as there is no justification for it,” Dimitrov added.

Mirchev accused unnamed officials of “treating the state budget as if it were their personal wallet.”