How much did Bulgaria’s external debt increase under the Zhelyazkov cabinet?

Bulgaria’s foreign debt increased by over €7 billion during 2025. As of December 31, 2025 it amounted to €25.3 billion while on the same date in 2024 it was €18.1 billion. Acting Finance Minister Georgi Klisurski presented these figures during today’s parliamentary control in response to a question from a member of the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms group.

According to data from the Bulgarian National Bank our external debt is growing steadily. Excessively high debt can create risks for the country’s financial stability, so we are asking you how much it has grown over the last calendar year,” said Yavor Haitov from the APS in his statement.

In response Klisurski said that in percentage terms the external debt had increased by 4.6 percentage points – from 17.3% as a share of GDP to approximately 22% of GDP last year.

Bulgaria’s total public debt, including external and internal debt, amounted to €31.4 billion as of December 31, 2025.

We would like to remind you that our country still does not have a new state budget, which is why this week the caretaker cabinet submitted a draft law for an additional extension of the 2025 Budget.

An important change is that the proposed bill allows the state, ministries and municipalities to spend money from the Fiscal Reserve (with the exception of the Silver Fund) to pay civil servants’ salaries. The new paragraph in the draft bill states that:

Additional expenditures and transfers under the state budget resulting from acts of the National Assembly and the Council of Ministers that have entered into force to increase salaries and social payments may be financed from the previous year’s balances, with the exception of funds from the State Fund for Guaranteeing the Sustainability of the State Pension System.”

Translated with DeepL.