Bulgaria's outgoing Minister of Finance Vladislav Goranov described the 2017 draft budget, which was prepared and presented last week,as conservative and boring. In other words, Boyko Borissov's cabinet was perhaps not planning to make any radical, long-awaited and promised reforms and that it would rely on stability instead.

However, the Presidential elections held last Sunday ruined the plans of the government, which suffered a heavy and unexpected defeat at the runoff. As a result, Bulgaria's Premier Borissov handed in the resignation of his cabinet and explained that the ruling GERB party would not take part in a government within the current National Assembly. Later, representatives of that political party officially announced that the 2017 draft state budget, which was discussed at the Budget and Finance Commission at the Bulgarian National Assembly, would be withdrawn. As a result, many political and economic experts forecasted and analyzed the possible consequences on the country's public finance and the whole social and economic system. Some analysts predicted that the country would collapse, others contended that nothing dramatic would happen in Bulgaria, apart from the fact that the increase of the minimum salary, as well as of some social benefits and salaries would be delayed due to the lack of a new budget. However, the panic and confusion lasted for several hours only, because Minister Goranov himself announced in public that the outgoing cabinet would not withdraw the 2017 draft budget and that the country's National Assembly would discuss and adopt the new budget, despite the recent resignation of Borissov's cabinet. Bulgaria's Parliament has already started working on the new draft budget, which may be adopted in the coming days at first reading in plenary hall. The budget, which was proposed and prepared by the outgoing government, will be fulfilled by at least two other cabinets- the interim cabinet appointed by Bulgaria's head of state and the country's next cabinet elected at the forthcoming early Parliamentary elections. However, it is not clear whether the next two cabinets would agree with the policies of the 2017 budget, proposed by their predecessors. The next governments will most likely disapprove of that budget, because a country's budget represents the policy line of a given cabinet. However, the results of the latest Parliamentary elections and the fact that most Bulgarians voted against the candidate of the ruling party, showed that the Bulgarian people do not agree with the policy line of the outgoing cabinet, therefore they probably disagree with the priorities of the current draft budget.

The question now is how many times the 2017 state budget would be amended until the adoption of the country's budget for 2018. That uncertainty causes instability in the local business, state administration and the society as a whole, because they have already made some financial plans and projects for next year and apparently will have to revise those plans. The current budget which has been discussed by the Bulgarian MPs and will be perhaps adopted in Parliament is not likely to last long. The 2017 draft budget is not bad or wrong at all. On the contrary, all financial analysts noted that this budget clearly defines the country's priorities and leads to stability and economic growth. Well, it can always be better prepared, but the problem in that case is of political and social essence. The Bulgarian citizens voted against poverty, corruption and misappropriation. They voted against the low quality of life, which has not improved significantly in the recent years. Most of them want change, whatever that may mean.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov