Bulgarian Finance Ministry to fill budget deficit with huge loans

Bulgaria will borrow a “fairly significant amount” to cover its budget deficit of over 3 billion euros and repay old debts. Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova announced this during her hearing in the parliamentary Healthcare Committee.

According to the 2025 Budget, promulgated in the State Gazette, the maximum amount of new state debt that can be taken on in the current year is almost 9.7 billion euros.

Currently, the borrowed funds total 409 million euros, and at an auction planned for next week, the state is expected to place an additional 250 million euros worth of bonds on the domestic market.

Funding for psychiatric hospitals

The reason for the minister's hearing at the Healthcare Committee was the dissatisfaction expressed in recent weeks by employees of public psychiatric hospitals over the planned 5% increase in their salaries for this year.

According to Petkova, the Ministry of Health has a budget of 600 million euros for 2025 (about a 75 million euros annual increase), of which 295 million euros will be personnel expenses (a 31 million euros increase).

The Minister of Health, Silvi Kirilov, provided more specific data, according to which the funding for the 12 psychiatric hospitals, employing 1,440 people, for this year amounts to 28 million euros, of which 23 million euros are for salaries.

This is an increase of 1 million euros compared to 2024, which ensures a 5% increase in pay. Thus, the average salary in the sector will increase from 1013 to 1065 euros.

These 5%, provided by the budget, are, to put it mildly, offensive,” commented Dr. Yonka Gospodinova, director of the State Psychiatric Hospital in Sevlievo.

She outlined the main demands of the hospitals, namely:

• 50% increase in the salaries of those working in psychiatric hospitals;
• tying personnel salaries to the average salary rate in Bulgaria;
• changes in the labor category.

We work in extremely difficult conditions – we have no doctors, orderlies and nurses,” added Dr. Gospodinova.

She specified that an orderly receives minimum wage (ed. note – 550 euros), a nurse has a salary of 848 euros, general practitioners receive 1022 euros, and specialist doctors – 1124 euros.

If the retirees leave our ranks, we will close. Over 30% of the working staff are retirees, and just as many are of retirement age,” said Dr. Gospodinova.

However, the finance minister pointed out that even just a 1% increase in personnel costs in this field would lead to an additional cost of 227,500 euros per year.

Still, Petkova assured that the government is prepared to talk with the doctors in the 12 public psychiatric hospitals.

We are ready for dialogue and will seek solutions to the extent that the budget framework allows,” the finance minister said.

Translated by Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov