Debt brake

"Bulgaria has had a history of low deficit, low debt to GDP. So that part of the system has worked very well. We can say that the monetary and fiscal situation has worked well since July 1997, when we installed the currency board in Bulgaria. So, it's a big success. Now, the failure side was obvious to me when I was an advisor to President Stoyanov in 1997. And that is corruption.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said yesterday that military and financial support for Ukraine was of "existential importance" to Europe, defending defense spending commitments as Berlin confronts a domestic budget crisis.

Germany has been one of the Ukraine's biggest backers along with the United States, Scholz said, supplying Kiev with weapons to battle Russia's invading forces.

Germany's new government is planning to earmark 60 billion euros ($68 billion) to fund "future investment" including its plans to tackle climate change, Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Dec. 10.