Economist Preslav Raykov warned that inflation in Bulgaria could accelerate to around 8% in the coming months, while stressing that the country must quickly bring its budget deficit below 3% after entering the EU's excessive deficit procedure. Speaking to NOVA News, he said achieving that target will depend largely on political decisions and the government's ability to implement real spending cuts.
Raykov noted that officials have signaled intentions to reduce public spending, but concrete figures showing where savings will come from have yet to be presented. “We still don't see anything concrete in the form of numbers,” he said, arguing that large-scale administrative reforms cannot deliver immediate results because restructuring the public sector is a much longer process. According to him, faster measures are needed if the deficit is to be reduced within the current year.
The economist criticized the fiscal policies of recent years, saying successive finance ministers failed to preserve long-term financial stability. He argued that the state should halt the automatic expansion of spending programs, including mechanisms that generate repeated double-digit increases in parts of the public sector. “This is a short-term credit that runs out within three to six months,” he said.
