Bulgaria’s Finance Ministry has recorded a consolidated Budget surplus of 470.6 million leva in the first month of the year, or 0.3 per cent of this year’s estimated gross domestic product, in line with the ministry’s forecast of 470 million leva issued last month.
That was a decrease of 0.4 percentage points of GDP compared to the same period of 2022, when Bulgaria recorded a Budget surplus of 937 million leva.
For February, the ministry forecast a Budget deficit of 250 million leva at the end of the month. The ministry said that it would be the first time since 2015 that a deficit was expected two months into the year and attributed it to spending rising faster than revenue.
In January, the state Budget had a surplus of 399.9 million leva and the EU funds surplus was 70.7 million leva. Bulgaria’s contribution to the EU budget for the first month of 2023 was 112 million leva.
Revenue in January was 4.87 billion leva, up 12.6 per cent from 4.32 billion leva recorded in the same period of last year. Tax revenues were 3.98 billion leva, an increase of 12 per cent.
Budget spending was 4.4 billion leva, up from 3.38 billion leva in the same period of 2022, with the bulk of the increase going to higher pensions and subsidies, in particular the scheme to compensate non-household consumers for high electricity prices, the ministry said.
Source: https://sofiaglobe.com/
