Shteryo Nozharov says 2026 budget breaches EU rules

Bulgaria’s proposed spending plan for next year breaches European Union fiscal requirements, according to Associate Professor Shteryo Nozharov, an economist specializing in public finance. The country lacks a mandated cyclical buffer while net primary expenditures reach 6.3 percent rather than the permitted 4.9 percent, with structural deficits hitting at least 3 percent. Nozharov told NOVA NEWS that authorities relied on temporary revenue sources without addressing medium-term economic challenges.

Personnel expenditures have quadrupled and now approach 11 percent of gross domestic product, far exceeding Germany’s 8.5 percent and the European average of 9.3 percent. An oversized bureaucracy increasingly burdens state finances. While mid-year revisions typically increase allocations, Nozharov suggested authorities might instead need to acknowledge that projected revenues remain uncollectible and reduce certain expenditures.