site.btaParliament Budgets BGN 18.25 Bln in Public Social Insurance Spending, Transfers for 2022

At an extraordinary plenary sitting on Tuesday, the National Assembly budgeted BGN 18,247,722,100 in expenditures and transfers on the public social insurance consolidated budget as part of a revision of the 2022 Public Social Insurance Budget Act, which was passed conclusively.

Of this amount, BGN 15.5 billion are allocated for pensions.

All lawmakers present with the exception of Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) leader Mustafa Karadayi voted in favour of a Government-proposed 26.2% increase of the minimum monthly contributory-service and retirement-age pension from BGN 370 now to BGN 467, inclusive of a COVID supplement of BGN 60, effective July 1, 2022.

Explaining why he voted against, Karadayi said that the MRF had moved for a minimum pension of BGN 481.80, and this could have been approved.

Between July 1 and September 30, 2022, the maximum monthly pension will be BGN 2,000, up by 33.3%, from BGN 1,500 at present. The maximum will be increased further as from October 1 until December 31, 2022, to BGN 3,400, as much as the maximum monthly contributory income.

The monthly social old-age pension was increased as well, from BGN 170 now to BGN 247, effective July 1.

All work-contingent pensions granted until December 31, 2021 were raised by 10%.

Motions entered by the opposition GERB-UDF regarding revenues and expenditures on pensions were rejected. Denitsa Sacheva MP of GERB-UDF said that the lack of revenue estimates in the revised public social insurance budget is a "major problem". She argued that the National Social Security Institute revenues depend on measures such as combating the grey economy. In Sacheva's view, the proposed provisions regarding pensions are unfair.

Labour, Social and Demographic Policy Committee Chair Iskren Arabadjiev MP of Continue the Change noted that the increase of the average contributory income will generate revenue in 2023. He said that spending on pensions approximates 10% of Bulgaria's GDP. All pensions will be indexed from July 1, and a rise planned for October 1 will be limited to those who have been underpaid so far, he explained.

According to Hasan Ademov MP of the MRF, the proposed revisions by no means redress the disproportions in the pension system.

Budget and Finance Committee Chair Lyubomir Karimansky MP of There Is Such a People said that the changes are proceeding on schedule and pensioners will get their rise as early as in July.

Georgi Mihailov MP of BSP for Bulgaria noted that the opposition has a lot of proposals regarding the budget revisions.

Georgi Georgiev MP of Vazrazhdane said that his parliamentary group has observations but will back the revisions of the public social insurance budget.

Dimitar Ganev MP of Democratic Bulgaria argued that pensions should better be calculated according to rules laid down in a law.

Labour and Social Policy Minister Georgi Gyokov commented that the Government-proposed increase of the maximum pension is intended to motivate and incentivize the social security contributors and the persons covered by social security who pay contributions on the maximum contributory income and whose actual income exceeds this maximum.