site.btaNational Assembly to Vote on Draft 2026 State Budget on Second Reading

Parliament is set to hold the second-reading vote on the draft 2026 State Budget, according to the National Assembly's agenda for Friday. Debate on the budget bill continued for more than 12 hours on Thursday. The 2026 State Budget bill provides for a deficit of 5.7%.

The Budget and Finance Committee approved the bill on second reading at an over 12-hour extraordinary meeting which ended in the small hours of Wednesday. The committee rejected all proposals submitted between the two readings to increase social benefits and compensations this year.

The bill sets the ceiling for new government debt in 2026 at EUR 10.1 billion, which includes a loan of up to EUR 3.261 billion under the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) instrument to strengthen the defence industry. Government debt is projected to reach EUR 37.7 billion, or 30.1% of GDP.

The State Budget Bill provides for a 10% reduction in personnel expenditure from September 1, excluding municipalities, military personnel, employees of the Interior Ministry and the security services, staff covered by the Implementation of Penal Sanctions and Detention in Custody Act, and certain employees under the Medical Treatment Facilities Act. It also envisages higher revenue from the toll system, a 30% increase in vignette fees, and higher excise duties on tobacco and tobacco products from August 1.

The bill also proposes suspending the automatic mechanisms for determining the remuneration of military personnel and employees of the Interior Ministry and the National Service for Protection. The minimum monthly wage would be set at EUR 620 until a new mechanism for determining it is introduced.

The bill provides for civil servants under the Civil Servants Act and employees covered by the Judicial System Act to begin paying personal social security contributions from August 1. Their basic monthly salaries must be set so that, after deducting mandatory employee social security contributions and income tax, their net pay is no lower than the net amount received as of July 31.

The bill also requires that, by September 15, draft amendments be prepared to abolish the Committee for Disclosing the Documents and Announcing Affiliation of Bulgarian Citizens to State Security and to the Intelligence Services of the Bulgarian National Army (informally known as the Secret Police Files Committee) and its functions to be transferred to the Archives State Agency.

It also proposes reducing the number of members of the management and supervisory boards of public enterprises from five to three. The bill caps the Financial Supervision Commission chairperson's remuneration at 95% of the Bulgarian President's basic monthly salary and repeals the provision allowing the chairperson and other commission members to receive performance-related bonuses under the Commission's internal remuneration rules.