Ministry of Finance

The Bulgarian Ministry of Finance projects that Bulgaria will satisfy the inflation criterion by the year's end, as per the ministry's models. Deputy Minister of Finance Metodi Metodiev highlighted this during the "Introduction of the Euro - Risks and Challenges: The Experience of Croatia" conference.

Since the start of the year, Bulgaria has secured an additional BGN 700 million in debt from the domestic market, according to announcements from the Ministry of Finance and data published by the Bulgarian National Bank. Of this sum, BGN 300 million was raised through the issuance of government securities, achieving a weighted average return of 3.21 percent.

Coastal hoteliers are increasing employee wages by at least 20% to address the staff shortage, explained Minister of Tourism Evtim Miloshev to BNR.

"Since the start of the year, for the first three months, data from the European Tourist Commission shows that Bulgaria is in second place for recovery compared to 2019, which is a very positive indicator," Miloshev said.

Twelve municipalities in Greece have advanced to the next phase of property value reassessments by private evaluators under the Ministry of Finance.

These municipalities, including Ag. Anargyroi-Kamatero, Vrilissia, Halandri, Glyfada, Piraeus, Ithaca, Karpathos, Loutraki, Symi, Pyrgos, Rhodes and Astypalea, seek to lower property tax values, arguing they exceed market rates.

According to an official from the Italian Ministry of Finance, finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) nations, scheduled to meet in Italy next week, are set to endorse a European Union proposal. This plan involves utilizing funds from frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine's efforts in the ongoing conflict, as reported by Reuters.

The Ministry of Finance anticipates a 9.3% increase in wages for Bulgarian businesses this year, as outlined in the latest Convergent Program of Bulgaria. This projected wage growth is slightly lower than the previous year's due to a decline in inflation rates.

The scheduled increase in pensions from July 1 might be adjusted to 10% instead of the initially projected 11%, in line with the State Social Security budget for the current year. This potential alteration stems from the officially reported lower inflation rates compared to earlier forecasted estimates.

BELGRADE - Between January and March this year, Serbia registered a 19.7 bln dinar budget deficit, which is 43.7 bln dinars better than a planned 63.4 bln deficit.

Revenues totalled 483.5 bln dinars while expenditures stood at 503.2 bln dinars.

According to figures released by the Ministry of Finance this week, a 25 bln dinar deficit was registered in March alone.

Growth in Cyprus will be at 2.9% in 2024, according to the April projections published on the website of the republic's Ministry of Finance.

For the years 2025-2027, GDP is expected to grow further by 3.1%, 3.2% and 3.3% respectively. 

BELGRADE - Serbia's public debt stood at 36.34 bln euros at end-March, accounting for 47.7 pct of GDP, according to figures released by the Ministry of Finance.

M-o-m, the debt declined from 36.42 bln euros and its share in the GDP also dropped from 47.8 pct.