07.05.2025

Key Parameters of the Consolidated Fiscal Programme (CFP) as of March 2025

CFP revenues, grants and donations as of March 2025 amount to BGN 16,834.3 million, or 18.6% of the annual estimates. Proceeds grow by BGN 1,076.5 million (6.8%) as compared to those reported in the first three months of 2024. This growth is mainly due to the tax revenues which increase by 13.3% (BGN 1,598.4 million). Non-tax revenues are close to those reported for the same period of 2024, while proceeds in the part of grants and donations are less by BGN 0.7 million.

Tax proceeds, including revenues from social security contributions, amount to BGN 13,625.5 million, which accounts for 19.2% of the estimates for the year. Tax and social security contribution proceeds form 80.9% of the overall CFP proceeds for the period.

Non-tax revenues amount to BGN 2,458.9 million, which accounts for 20.5% of the annual estimates and is an increase by BGN 137.1 million, or 5.9%, compared to the same period of 2024. These revenues are formed mostly from state, municipal and legal expense revenues, rents, concession revenues, greenhouse gas emission allowance revenues, etc.

Grant and donation proceeds amount to BGN 749.9 million.

CFP expenditures, including the contribution of the Republic of Bulgaria to the EU budget for March 2025, amount to BGN 18,761.0 million, which accounts for 19.4% of the annual estimates. For comparison, CFP expenditures for the first three months of 2024 amount to BGN 15,356.8 million, and it should be taken into account that in February 2024 there was a reported reimbursement transaction of BGN 1,200.0 million from the external funds account of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works back to the Ministry’s budget. The CFP capital expenditures in the cash report at the end of March 2024 are therefore negative, amounting to BGN 259.3 million. Eliminating this transaction and for the purposes of data comparability, expenditures as of the end of March 2025 increase by BGN 2,204.2 million (13.3%). An increase is expected mainly in the spending on social payments, including pension expenditures, as well as on personnel costs, subsidies, capital expenditures, etc.

Non-interest expenditures amount to BGN 17,841.7 million, which accounts for 19.3% of the annual estimates and is an increase (on a comparable basis) by BGN 1,961.9 million, or 12.4%, compared to those reported in March 2024. Non-interest current expenditures amount to BGN 16,807.4 million. Capital expenditures (including net increment of state reserve) amount to BGN 1,017.8 million. The current and capital transfers to other countries amount to BGN 16.5 million. Interest payments amount to BGN 411.0 million (25.3% of those planned for the year and increasing by BGN 73.4 million compared to the same period of 2024).

The CFP budget balance as of March 2025 is negative, amounting to BGN 1,926.7 million (0.9% of the projected GDP). In contrast to the first quarter of 2024, when the balance on the EU funds accounts was positive, amounting to BGN 1,025.3 million, this year the balance on the EU funds accounts is negative, amounting to BGN 449.1 million. The reasons for this are, on the one hand, the reported one-off revenues in March 2024 (related to the reimbursement by the European Commission to Bulgaria of the significant expenditure incurred at the end of 2023 under the programmes of the previous programming period 2014-2020) and, on the other hand, a noticeable increase in the expenditures on the EU accounts in the first quarter of 2025, including due to the higher amount of funds absorbed under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (on account of the proceeds of the first tranche). This led to a cumulative deterioration of the balance of the EU accounts for 2025, respectively of the CFP, by BGN 1,474.4 million compared to the same period of 2024.

The fiscal reserve as of 31.03.2025 is BGN 8,992.473 million, including BGN 7,454.150 million of fiscal reserve deposits in the BNB and in banks and BGN 1,538.323 million of receivables under the EU Funds for certified expenditures, advance payments, etc.

The Consolidated Fiscal Programme implementation data as of 31 March 2025 are published on the website of the Ministry of Finance, in the Statistics section. The statistics is accompanied by an Information Bulletin on the Execution of the State Budget and the Main Indicators of the Consolidated Fiscal Programme, which represents a short analysis of the performance of the key budget parameters on a consolidated level and by constituent budgets.