Vice President Iliana Iotova: Who Are We Fooling? Our Deficit Is Much Higher Than Officially Presented

According to the Vice President, Bulgaria’s first budget in euro should have been completed and presented long ago. Iliana Iotova said she had expected a broader public debate, rather than one confined to the ruling coalition.

Iliana Iotova, Vice President of the Republic of Bulgaria:
“The signals we are receiving are more than alarming. In fact, several months later, this budget and the commentary surrounding it demonstrate how right President Radev was when he sought, through a referendum, to assess whether we are truly ready to adopt the euro. Since yesterday we have an acknowledgement from the Fiscal Council that figures were manipulated when we requested the convergence reports. Our deficit is significantly higher than the one officially presented. And so we must ask — who are we fooling? Because all of these consequences will ultimately fall on us, the Bulgarian people. I hope that in the coming days we will hear what kind of economy Bulgaria intends to have, because so far all we have seen are accounting tables — nothing more.”