Stability and Growth Pact

In 2023, Bulgaria maintained one of the lowest government debt-to-GDP ratios in the EU at 22.9%, as overall government deficits in the euro area and EU slightly increased. Government deficits rose to 3.6% of GDP in the euro area and 3.5% in the EU, while government debt levels fell across the region.

The consistent overshooting of tax revenue targets seen every month this year is now safely forecast to lead to a higher primary surplus in the 2024 budget compared to the target. That will allow the government to plan additional spending of around €500 million for the next year compared to the original target - after an agreement with Brussels. 

The European Commission recommended on Wednesday that Greece curb the rise of net expenditures in its individual member country recommendations in socioeconomic policy in 2025, in the context of the European Semester.

The Greek economy's growth rate as well as the increase in investments and exports are currently the country's strongest points, compared to the rest of the eurozone, as shown in the statistical tables of the Commission's spring forecasts, published on Wednesday.

Last year's primary surplus in Greece proved significantly higher than the budget estimate for 1.1% of gross domestic product, reaching 1.9% of GDP and making it easier to meet this year's target of 2.1% of GDP.

September 20 will most likely be the day on which the member-states of the European Union will submit their first four-year budgetary-structural plans, based on the rules of the new Stability Pact.

The European Union finance ministers reached a compromise agreement for the new Stability and Growth Pact on Wednesday during an Ecofin teleconference, after weeks of arduous consultations on the new reform framework on the pace of debt and deficit reduction by member-states.

The European Union's new fiscal rules should ensure both fiscal discipline and economic growth, while considering countries with high defense spending, noted Greek National Economy and Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis on Thursday.

The European Commission recommended to Bulgaria to end the energy support measures for businesses, to emphasize the real implementation of the Recovery Plan and to reduce the deficit in the draft budget proposed by the Cabinet.

The balance of the general government eventually crossed into positive territory from as early as last year, with a primary surplus of 0.1% of gross domestic product or 273 million euros, against a forecast in the 2023 budget for a deficit of 1.6% of GDP or €3.4 billion, according to data published on Friday by ELSTAT and Eurostat, in the context of the European Union's excessive deficit proced