site.btaFinance Minister Urges Parliament to Extend Provisional Budget to Secure SAFE Loans

Caretaker Finance Minister Georgi Klisurski said that funds from the European Security Action for Europe (SAFE) instrument could reach Bulgaria as early as April if the Government approves extension to the existing provisional budget bill. Klisurski was speaking Sunday on Bulgarian National Radio.

Klisurski noted that the first EUR 500 million of the over EUR 3.2 billion resource under the SAFE could be disbursed if the Parliament approves the extension. He noted that the SAFE funds are European resources - loans with very favorable terms, long grace periods, and low interest rates. The Minister added that he fully supports signing the agreement, both to attract financial resources to Bulgaria and to modernize the country’s defence.

He recalled that the caretaker Cabinet and the Ministry of Finance currently have two main priorities: to ensure the upcoming parliamentary elections are carried out smoothly and to keep the government running after March 31, when the current budget extension is set to expire. He warned that if the existing provisional budget is not extended, the State will not be allowed to make any payments after the end of the month, including those already planned for the elections.

The Minister appealed to parliamentary groups to support the extension so that the law remains valid until the adoption of a regular 2026 budget. This would prevent any interruption in state spending and secure the performance of essential government functions.

Parliament's Budget and Finance Committee was scheduled on Thursday to consider a bill extending the 2025 State Budget Act, submitted by the caretaker Government, but the meeting was cancelled. On Friday, lawmakers of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria blamed the former powerholders for blocking the bill's progress through Parliament

The caretaker cabinet of Prime Minister Andrey Gurov approved the proposed amendments on February 25. The changes concern the Act on the Collection of Revenues and the Commitment of Expenditures in 2026 until the passage of the 2026 State Budget Act, the 2026 Public Social Insurance Budget Act and the 2026 National Health Insurance Fund Budget Act. The bill would amend the current framework regulating the collection of revenues and the commitment of expenditures until the adoption of the regular 2026 budgets, including the state budget, the budget of the public social insurance system and the budget of the National Health Insurance Fund. This would be the second budget extension bill for 2026 due to the absence of an adopted regular annual budget.