The MPs approved, at first reading, the update of the state budget. As of 1 July a differentiated VAT rate is being put in place – for bread VAT will be zero, for natural gas supplies – 9% instead of the current 20%. VAT on wine and beer served at bars and restaurants will be 20%, up from 9%, a reduction that was introduced during the pandemic. Pensions are to go up as well.
The budget is calculated at an economic growth of 2.9% and an annual inflation rate of 11.9%, even though, according to the National Statistical Institute, annual inflation now stands at over 15%.
The most heated debates in plenary were over the increase in the debt limit to EUR 5.1 billion. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Assen Vassilev gave as the reason for this the need to revolve old government debts.
Bulgaria is making good progress toward joining the Eurozone, as inflation is decreasing towards the threshold set by the criteria, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development President Odile Renaud-Basso said in an interview with BTA. The..
Bulgaria's Ministry of Transport has been working for years to develop Corridor No. 8, connecting the Adriatic with the Black Sea through Albania, North Macedonia and Bulgaria. Of the 1,220 km of railway line along the corridor, 747 km are on the..
A little less than a month ago, Minister of Finance Temenuzhka Petkova presented, in Brussels, the headway Bulgaria has made along the road to joining the Eurozone. There, she stated that with its prudent fiscal policy, the country had earned its..
The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) has revised upwards its expectations for Bulgarian economic growth in 2025 but lowered its GDP growth forecast for..
Thunderstorms 
sunshine, cloud, rain and thunder
Partly cloudy, chance of rain
Overcast, rain
Mostly Cloudy
Occasional showers