government spending

The arrival of the new US government and its signals that the US military presence in Europe may be about to be withdrawn have caused violent reactions on the old continent. On March 4, the President of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen officially announced the “ReArm Europe” initiative with a budget of 800 billion euros to improve …

In the area of public finances, the classic "guns versus oil" dilemma - choosing between military might and social welfare - has long been at the heart of budget debates. Over the past 80 years, governments around the world have allocated trillions to both defense and health, but not always to the same extent. In …

In last week's article, I presented an analysis of the state of the Bulgarian economy and public finances according to the most recent data from the National Statistical Institute and the Ministry of Finance. The situation, as we have seen, is not at all rosy. Long-term investments have collapsed, private consumption is also starting to weaken, and the negative contribution of net exports to …

Houston, we have a problem. Judging by all the news and statements from the government on the subject, it looks like Budget 2021 will be the most wasteful in a long, long time. The entire budget process and the discussions surrounding it are extremely puzzling to anyone with basic economic literacy. Why in …

After hundreds of sips of coffee with "sugar", Prime Minister Borisov triumphantly returned to Sofia a few days ago and declared. The Prime Minister did not hesitate to boast that the negotiations on the European Recovery Fund and the next EU Budget ended with a definite success for Bulgaria and almost personally he ...

Extremely quickly and without almost any in-depth discussions, the 2020 Budget was adopted on first reading this week. We cannot help but be left with the impression that the budget for next year was very much overrun. And it shouldn't be, especially considering that this year the economic …

This week, the Council of Ministers approved the draft law on the state budget for 2020. It was announced by Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov as realistic, balanced and without surprises. Indeed, “without surprises” is an accurate definition – Budget 2020 carries the spirit of the same policy as in the preparation of the previous ones. But, fortunately, for …

Healthcare spending is increasing year by year, with the largest increase in absolute terms over the past few years being observed in the hospital care item in the NHIF budget. It represents nearly 47% of the department's budget, and since 2014 it has grown by BGN 750 million, or …

As the European Parliament elections approach this month, all the candidates are tripping over each other to explain why we should vote for them, without of course promising anything concrete. And without even directly addressing the serious topics that should be a priority in the pre-election debates. …

The principle of "no dissatisfied" is particularly respected in the pre-election environment in Bulgaria. This year's elections are double, and so are the expectations. The promise of the ruling party that no hospitals will be closed during their term speaks well enough about the attitude they have towards reforms in the healthcare system. In order to ...