Breaking: Bulgaria‘s Parliament Passes Extended Budget Law on First Reading
In a landmark decision, Bulgaria’s Parliament has approved the Extended Budget Law for 2025 on its first reading, ensuring the continuity of public finances until the national budget and budgets of decentralized orphanages and nurseries are finalized. This protracted budget law, submitted by the Ministerial Council on December 31, 2024, and endorsed by the Financial Commission on January 7, is a rare display of fiscal foresight amid political uncertainty.
A total of 207 MP’s voted in favor of the bill, demonstrating a rare unity in the divided legislature.通常の予算法に代わって 商定される繰り延べ立法itee trimmed the inter zapeak period to just three days, reflecting the urgent need to address the fiscal vacuum and maintain stability.
Finance Minister Ludmila Petkova, who introduced the bill, noted that while the extended budget law is not explicitly covered in the constitution or laws on public finances, it has been proposed as a crisis measure. She emphasized that the law will remain in effect until the end of March, with an explicit clause preventing it from extending beyond three months. If a regular government is not formed or a budget is not passed by March, Parliament will have to reconvene and reapprove the law without modifications.
Asen Vasilev, co-chair of "Continue the Change" and the former finance minister, highlighted the necessity of passing the Extended Budget Law before the new year and called on MP’s to swiftly adopt the national budget. He raised concerns about a specific clause (Article 3, Paragraph 3), which grants the Ministerial Council the freedom to fund capital and other expenses through a decision. Vasilev plans to submit an amendment proposal to explicitly limit the types of expenses the Ministerial Council can approve.
Petkova clarified that the contentious clause is necessary to ensure critical defense expenditure during this period. Meanwhile, Martin Dimitrov from "Continue the Change – Democrats for Bulgaria" promised to introduce an amendment limiting the Ministerial Council’s spending power to only those expenses explicitly approved by Parliament.
Hasan Ademov from "Democracy, Rights, and Freedoms" (the parliamentary group of "Alliance for Rights and Freedom"), however, pointed out that the current law merely enables the collection of revenues and the disbursement of expenses, rather than serving as an extended budget law in the traditional sense.
The delay in selecting a Parliament chairperson and the subsequent holiday recess impeded the progress of the State Budget Law, which was originally slated for consideration in the Budget and Finance Committee on January 7. However, committee members rejected the planned agenda item.
With this extended budget law, Bulgaria takes a significant step towards fiscal predictability and stability, even as the broader political landscape remains uncertain. As Parliament reconvenes in the coming days, all eyes will be on the crucial second reading, where amendments and final votes will determine the fiscal trajectory of the country in the months ahead.
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