Bulgaria's Finance Minister Seeks State Budget Update to Include F-16 Deal

An update of the budget for this year will be discussed at an extraordinary meeting of the government on Monday, July 15, Bulgaria's Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov said in an interview for Focus Radio on July 12, reports BNT.

The aim is to increase the expenditure in order to ensure funds for the purchase of the F-16 aircrafts. The Minister said that the amount due on the contract is significant and the payment, which should be done in one go, is about $ 1.2 billion. The amount has not been envisaged in the budget.

Goranov added that with this update the deficit is expected to be about 2%, but this is below the 3% threshold under the Maastricht criteria.

In his words, the budget allows for the financing of the deal in 2019 because the fiscal reserve is at a good enough level and there are good prospects for the Bulgarian economy.