The financing of the Bulgarian state administration was cut by 22% due to financial difficulties in the country and the deficit in the state budget. The latter became clear at the sitting of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation. The revenues in the state budget are likely to be EUR 450 million less than expected by end 2014, which forces the authorities to make savings. Let us not forget that in July, 2014, the former National Assembly amended urgently the budget of the National Health Insurance Fund with EUR 113 million and this money was taken from the budgets of the public administration. Moreover, the growth of the public expenditures continued to outstrip the revenue increase and the deficit in the state budget in July reached over EUR 560 million. One year earlier it was at EUR 85 million only, i.e. it saw a sevenfold increase. In other words, there is no money in this country.

The public administration suffered the most from the feverish efforts of the authorities to fill the gaps in the state finance, which were caused by bad planning and overspending. The initial sum allotted to the public administration was also meager. Unfortunately, the authorities could not take money from anywhere else, apart from the public administration. There was a simple decision - the authorities had to amend the state budget for 2014 and issue a new state debt, in order to fill the country's treasury. However, the leftist coalition which was in charge of this country until end July and adopted this wrong budget lacked the courage to admit its own mistake and undertake measures to correct them. Instead, it claimed that the state of the public finances was good.

Thus, it turned out that the public administration has to continue working in favor of the citizens and the society with a much lower (nearly one quarter) budget. Even the almighty Ministry of Interior which has a budget of over EUR 500 million has complained that its budget was cut by 10% and it can not find money to cover the pay rise of its employees, which was negotiated earlier. Bulgaria's interim Deputy Finance Minister admitted that there will be no salaries for the state employees in December, if the next Parliament does not amend the state budget. All these alarming problems would undoubtedly affect the efficiency of the public administration. The Bulgarian citizens and the society as a whole can not expect professional service from underpaid and less-motivated state employees. Let alone that corruption and misappropriation can easily flourish.

The only possible solution of the problems in the state administration, the municipalities and the public enterprises which, were affected by the money cuts, regards amendment of the state budget and new revenues for the state treasury through new state debts. The Bulgarian employers, labor unions and authorities united around such idea last Thursday. The Ministry of Finance explained that it has started to work on certain parameters of the future budget amendment, which, however, can only be made after the early Parliamentary elections in the beginning of October, when the new 43rd National Assembly will be formed, because the Parliament is the body which has the power to make budget amendments. Until then, all who rely on money from the state budget will have to suffer and count their pennies.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov