Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Galab Donev defended the government’s position on Bulgaria’s public finances, arguing that the country’s placement under the European Union’s excessive deficit procedure should not be viewed as an extraordinary or alarming development.
Responding to a question about whether repeated warnings regarding the state of the budget could discourage foreign investors, Donev rejected suggestions that the government was sending contradictory signals. He reiterated earlier calls to avoid what he described as “apocalyptic predictions” about the economy and stressed that the cabinet already has a strategy for bringing the deficit under control.
According to the finance minister, Bulgaria is far from alone in facing such scrutiny from Brussels. He pointed out that a number of EU member states, including countries that already use the euro, are currently subject to the same mechanism.
“There are quite a few countries in the European Union and in the eurozone that are under an excessive deficit procedure,” Donev said. He noted that governments across the bloc are introducing measures designed to curb the growth of public spending and ensure long-term fiscal sustainability.
