President Radev: Budget surplus should be spent after public debate

President Rumen Radev called for the budget surplus to be spent after a public debate and a parliamentary decision this year. He made this proposal to the participants in a round table on inequality and poverty in Bulgaria. Many experts, trade unions, employers, representatives of various institutions and civil associations participated in the 4-hour discussion on 9^th of October.

President’s Secretary of Social Policy, Galab Donev, opened the discussion with data on the income of the Bulgarians. Statistics show that 400,000 people fall into the category of so-called working poor. Their monthly incomes are below the poverty line, which for this year is 321 BGN.

Some 400,000 receive between 1,000 and ,2000 BGN a month, which defines them as middle class, but at the same time these incomes do not provide them with the economic security that is typical for the middle class. Over 1,700,000 people live with income up to 600 BGN. At the same time, the cost of living for this year, calculated by CITUB trade union is 585 BGN. More than 2,300,000 Bulgarians or nearly 78% live with a monthly income of up to 1,000 BGN.

President Radev pointed out that the inequalities in Bulgaria are far from any average European indicators and are so deep that they fail any attempts to unite around nationally important development goals. He called for real action to change these trends before they became irreversible.

The President concluded that the overwhelming opinion of the participants in the discussion is that there is a need for change. In his view, the current picture can only be changed by a broad public debate involving all the institutionsand made a specific proposal.

Rumen Radev: The Bulgarian Parliament should demand that this year's conscientiously planned and carefully managed budget surplus be spent after a public debate.

In the words of the President, such a step would be a very strong signal from the government and Parliament to Bulgarian citizens and a hope for the democratic processes in the country.

This is how Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov responded to President Rumen Radev's proposal for the budget surplus.

Vladislav Goranov: I do not understand what surplus the President is talking about, but we will not exceed the approved expenditures set with the adoption of the annual State Budget Act. If we want to spend the surplus - we have to update the budget, and we have no such intention.

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