site.btaSecond, Third Payments under Recovery and Resilience Plan Crucial for Implementing 2025 Budget - Finance Minister

Receiving the second and third payments under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) is crucial for implementing this year's budget while keeping the deficit within the 3% target, Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said on Bulgarian National Television on Monday.

A key factor for the 2025 budget revenue implementation is linked to these payments, particularly the third tranche under the Recovery and Resilience Plan, she added.

In her words, both the government and Parliament are making efforts to ensure that all the commitments to secure the third payment under the RRP are met.

"These BGN 4.5 billion related to the second and third RRP payments are critical for revenue implementation, and by extension, for the implementation of the 2025 budget. That is why, anyone attempting to undermine the government's efforts or those of the political forces supporting the government in Parliament should understand the serious responsibility they bear if Bulgaria ends up unable to receive the third payment," the Minister said.

Petkova noted that there are efforts to create tension and obstacles, including sending letters to the European Commission and organizing protests.

The Finance Minister said that they are "making great efforts to ensure that the revenues from the RRP’s second and third payments become a reality by the end of the year."

She added that the current state of public finances is largely a consequence of "the past four years of political time vacuum and lack of a regular government and political accountability." "The current budget situation is the result of this political time vacuum and the populism of some former finance ministers," Petkova said.