First cabinet reshuffle: Deputy Finance Minister Lyudmila Petkova dismissed

The first reshuffle in Rosen Zhelyakov's government is a fact. By order of the Prime Minister, Lyudmila Petkova has been dismissed from the position of Deputy Finance Minister. The proposal for the dismissal came from Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova, the Council of Ministers announced. Lyudmila Petkova was the acting Finance Minister and during the Glavchev cabinet she prepared the budget proposal for 2025. However, it was not approved by the National Assembly.

The current cabinet with the new Finance Minister is expected to present a budget in the coming weeks that will cover the 3 percent budget deficit requirement and be adopted by the National Assembly

The government will not increase the social security burden or change taxes when preparing the budget for this year. This was announced by Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov after the end of the meeting of the Joint Management Council.

However, he did not specify what restrictions will be imposed on spending in order to maintain the 3 percent deficit. "We discussed the specific measures in both expenditure and revenue, so that the investment program in both the central government and the municipalities can continue to be implemented, as well as other important issues, such as the one on sanitation, but to allow, after the vote in the National Assembly under these parameters, which is also a commitment of the mandate holder, the government to have grounds to submit a request for a convergence report on the implementation of the criteria for membership in the Eurozone," he told the Bulgarian National Radio.

Zhelyazkov was categorical that the government would submit a draft budget that meets the legal requirements for up to 40% of GDP expenditures and a budget deficit no higher than 3%: "Expenditures minus 3% deficit must also meet the revenue base. We will not propose exotic measures like those that were proposed in the withdrawn draft budget. We will not increase the tax and social security burden and will submit a budget with the current VAT." The exchange rate of the Bulgarian lev to the euro is fixed and will not change, Zhelyazkov assured:

"And at the moment the ratio of the Bulgarian lev to the euro is fixed, it is 1.9583, it is not subject to change and it is secured by an act of the National Assembly."

He called on the PP-DB deputies to clearly state whether they would support a budget that meets the requirements for entering the Eurozone.

Along with Zhelyazkov, Deputy Prime Ministers Atanas Zafirov from the BSP-OL and Grozdan Karadjov from the ITN also participated in the statement to the media.