Bulgaria is facing the real possibility of entering the new year without an adopted state budget and remaining in this mode at least until June if the country goes to early parliamentary elections. This was stated by economist Adrian Nikolov from the Institute for Market Economics and financier Levon Hampartzumyan on bTV.

The economist explained that the lack of a new budget in itself is not unprecedented and does not mean a financial crisis, since the state has mechanisms for short-term financing. According to him, the greater risk comes from the automatic mechanisms for increasing spending, laid down in various laws - including the increase in salaries in the public sector and pensions.

Nikolov warned that if the parliament does not adopt a rolling budget that explicitly blocks these automatic mechanisms, imbalances will result - an increase in spending without clear coverage, and investment projects will be the easiest to cut. At the same time, there will be resources for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Defense, but not for other sectors such as culture, healthcare and statistics, which could lead to social tension and protests.