Bulgaria Reports BGN 6.1 B Fiscal Reserve in 2012

Bulgaria's fiscal reserve as of December 31, 2012, amounted to BGN 6.1 B (7.8 % of the planned GDP).

The data was released by the Finance Ministry Friday.

The budget balance under the Consolidated Fiscal Program (CFP) for 2012 is negative, amounting to BGN 350.2 M, or 0.45% of the planned GDP. The deficit reported is substantially lower than the deficit of BGN 1 092.3 M (1.3% of GDP) planned in the 2012 State Budget Law. Compared to 2011, when the CFP deficit amounted to BGN 1 488.5 M (2.0% of GDP), the budget stance at end-2012 improves by BGN 1 138.3 M (1.5 percentage points of GDP) in nominal terms.

The CFP budget balance as of end-2012 is formed by a deficit under the national budget of BGN 680.4 M and a surplus under EU funds of BGN 330.2 M.

CFP revenues and grants for 2012 stand at BGN 27 469.6 M or 35.4% of the planned GDP against 33.7% of GDP for 2011. Compared to the previous year, CFP proceeds report a nominal growth by BGN 2 091.5 M or 8.2%. Tax proceeds report a growth by BGN 929.1 M (4.5 %) compared to 2011, while non-tax revenue and grants grow by BGN 1 162.3 M (24.3 %).

In 2012, tax proceeds, including revenues from social security contributions, total BGN 21 523.4 M, which is 99.7% of the annual plans. Revenues from direct taxes are BGN 3 775.8 M, with BGN 110.3 M (2.7%) more collected in 2012, compared to the previous year. Indirect tax revenues amount to BGN 11 342.8 M, which is nominal growth by BGN 718.1 M (6.8%) compared to 2011.

Revenues from social security and health insurance contributions for 2012 are BGN 5 589.6 M, or 100.5% of those planned for the year. Proceeds from other taxes, including property taxes and other taxes under the Corporate Income Tax Law, amount to BGN 815.2 M.

The expenditures under the consolidated budget, including the contribution of the Republic of Bulgaria to the EU budget, for 2012 amount to BGN 27 819.8 M, or 93.2% of the planned for the year. The breakdown of CFP expenditure is as follows: non-interest current expenditures amount to BGN 22 770.9 M, interest payments - to BGN 572.5 M, capital expenditures amount to BGN 3 667.1 M.

The part of Bulgaria's contribution to the EU budget, as paid in 2012 from the central budget, amounts to BGN 809.3 M, which complies with Council Regulation 1150/2000.