Bulgaria's Ex President Slams Veto on Budget Update

Politics » DOMESTIC | August 9, 2013, Friday // 09:51
Bulgaria: Bulgaria's Ex President Slams Veto on Budget Update Bulgaria’s former Socialist president Georgi Parvanov. File photo by Sofia Photo Agency

Bulgaria’s leftist former president has harshly criticized his center-right successor after he vetoed a budget revision on Wednesday.

“The president has made a grave political mistake by imposing a veto on the budget update,” Georgi Parvanov wrote in an article for local Presa daily.

"The Constitution states that the people elect a government and parliament, who form the fiscal policy. If the president succumbs to the temptation to meddle with the budget law, he risks to block the work of institutions and the economy," says Parvanov.

President Rosen Plevneliev imposed on Wednesday a partial veto on the Law on Amending and Supplementing the State Budget Act for 2013, saying the Socialist-led government had not shown enough transparency in its use of public money.

He explained that the package of social measures included in the budget update constituted a very small share of the earmarked expenses.

Plevneliev pointed out that there was insufficient information about how the new debt of BGN 1 B would be spent.

He noted that he failed to see serious plans about policies and reforms in support of competition and economic growth.

The budget revision provides for a new loan in the amount of BGN 1 B to be used as a buffer for the fiscal reserve in 2014, when Bulgaria must make new payments on its foreign debt. Other funds will be slated for the overdue money for the business and for social measures.

Economic growth is revised down to 1% from the original figure of 1.9%, while deficit increases by BGN 493 M, accounting for 2% of forecasted GDP.

Bulgaria’s Socialist-led government slammed President Rosen Plevneliev after he vetoed a budget revision on Wednesday.

“The president has grossly interfered with the executive authorities in yet another one-sided and unbalanced action," Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski said in an official statement.

It pointed out that the budget revision aims to correct the country’s fiscal policies from th last few years, which hampered economic growth and limited the opportunities for assistance to vulnerable groups in the society.

Oresharski listed once again the reasons that forced his government, under pressure to quit after weeks of protests, to revise this year's budget, saying it thus sets right the misleading forecast for revenues and spending.

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Tags: Bulgarian Socialist Party, budget revision, Rosen Plevneliev, Bulgarian President, veto, Bulgarian government, center-right party, Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, GERB, Boyko Borisov, Former Prime Minister, Bulgarian Prime Minister, Bulgaria, Bulgarian, economists, budget, revision

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