" the budget were mistakes. This is already visible, it will not be fulfilled, we already have a serious delay that cannot be made up. But in this case, the numbers are such that they do no credit to those who try to wave them around. We were against the 1% increase because the Swiss rule has to be followed. Second - we have a huge deficit".
This is how the chairman of AIKB Vasil Velev commented in the studio of "The Day ON AIR" the upcoming increase in pensions by 11% from July 1.
He recalled that the first priority is the Eurozone and we must meet the criteria, such as inflation and a deficit that does not exceed 3%.
"The net replacement rate of income from work with pensions has seriously outstripped the average for the European Union. There it is 40%, with us it is 70% - we had set the first pillar to be 60%. In the case of low pensions, we are talking about an increase of BGN 5-6 per month, which are not decisive amounts, but at the same time, they are not a small amount for the budget - BGN 100 million. All this will increase the excessive deficit and will away from the Eurozone, and in order to prevent this from happening again, we will most likely cut investments", added Velev for Bulgaria ON AIR. strong>
According to him, the increase in pensions is pre-election populism.
"The way it's going this year, we're not going to meet the deficit. We have a revenue shortfall of around 2 billion as of April. The income is 30.1% of the annual, given that we have extraordinary, one-time income that is made once a year. There is no way to make up for this, we will have a budget default. The growth of GDP will also be much smaller," the chairman of AIKB is emphatic.
According to him, there is no way to increase spending and maintain the requested deficit.
When asked if it is realistic to talk about joining the Eurozone from July 1, 2025, Velev answered: "We have to make an effort, this is important. But at the same time, we make decisions that inflate inflation and increase the deficit. But this is how political parties buy voters.
"The money for the universities will increase the deficit, it is not there to be taken without cutting other expenses. Someone needs to say which other expenses will be cut, because if there was an overrun of revenue, then it could be from them. And in recent days, Bulgaria is the country with the highest price of electricity on the market in the entire EU. It is very important to have a buffer that will allow in critical situations the price to be withheld," he added.