Brussels Unaware of Bulgaria Budget Deficit Woes

Unaccounted procurement deals concluded by the previous socialist government led by Sergey Stanishev, have increased Bulagria's 2009 deficit to 3.7% of GDP compared to earlier estimations of 1.9%. File photo

The European Commission has not been informed about the sharp revision upwards in Bulgaria's 2009 budget deficit caused by unaccounted procurement deals, a spokesman said.

Last week Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Finance Minister Simeon Djankov said the previous Socialist-led government had kept them in the dark over BGN 2.16 B contracts, which pushed the deficit up from a projected 1.9% to 3.7% of GDP.

The new figure raised the specter of Brussels sanctions, as it is above the three percent barrier set for euro area members and applicants.

Asked whether the European Commission has been informed about Bulgaria's hidden 2009 budget deficit figure, considerably higher than the one presented to the European institutions, the spokesman of Olli Rehn, the EU's economic and monetary commissioner, answered in the negative.

He specified that the Bulgarian authorities have not submitted any information concerning this problem to the European Commission.

Brussels' reluctance not to comment the news from Sofia is not surprising not only because EU officials have not been officially approached by the Bulgarian authorities.

All European Union member states had to present by April 1 debt and budget deficit figures for 2009 to Eurostat. The European Union's statistics office is expected to announce publicly the data and its assessment on April 21, which is the reason why the European Commission prefers to voice its stand after that date.

Asked whether Bulgaria has submitted the revised data about the budget deficit by April 1, a representative of the European Commission has said that the answer to that question should be given in Sofia.

The newly revealed budget data that show a host of unfunded liabilities has turned into the latest hurdle before Bulgaria's application to join the euro zone, which has been put on hold.

Officials in the Bulgarian prosecutor's office and the finance ministry are currently working with the internal auditors of thirteen government departments in a bid to figure out the origin of the hidden contracts.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, whose centre-right GERB party swept the elections last July, has placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of the country's former Socialist-led administration.

"We have in fact lied to our [EU] colleagues about our readiness for the euro zone, being unaware of this trap," he told journalists on Friday.

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