© Julia Lazarova
– Lubomir Karimanski
Today’s newly elected chairman of the parliamentary budget committee, Lubomir Karimanski from “There is such a people”, is committed to providing pension supplements for October, November and December.
Asked if the pensioners would receive a supplement, he replied: “We are all united in the fact that they will receive some kind of pension update that will satisfy them in some way.” In response to a clarifying question, he explained that he had discussed the topic with his BSP colleagues, “Stand up BG! We are coming” and “Democratic Bulgaria”.
It is about keeping in some form the surcharge of BGN 50, which the GERB cabinet introduced during the covid crisis, arguing that the financial condition of the pensioners has deteriorated despite the restrictions. The payment – equally for all without taking into account the amount of the pension or the social security contribution, continued at the official cabinet, but according to his warnings the funds – over BGN 100 million per month, were provided only until May, and after using all reserves , cannot continue after September without a budget update.
The Cabinet proposes a new system for increasing pensions, so that the pensioners with the lowest pensions are provided with income at least on the poverty line (BGN 369 for 2021 and BGN 413 for 2022), and for more large – flexible increase according to the insurance contribution. Read more about the pension plan here. However, the political parties represented in parliament have their own, different views on how to update pensions.
Karimanski said today that it is important to have estimates and not to set “social bombs” for next year and in the financial framework until 2023.
The chairman of the budget committee was also cautious about the other items in the draft budget update for this year proposed by the cabinet. He noted that he needs more analytical information on how the BGN 430 million needed for business support measures will be spent. For which business, what are the measures, what is their essence, how would they be useful for this business, he asked rhetorically. He assured that with a clear argument “of course they would be approved”.
Karimanski finds a contradiction in finding that the economy is booming, but measures are being proposed for business in the face of a deepening covid crisis. “These things are incompatible,” he said. According to him, there is a similar contradiction in the argumentation of the need for more money for medicines due to the expected deterioration of the situation with the coronavirus, and at the same time for vaccines. “Why increase both the cost of medicines and a lot of vaccines. To achieve a higher vaccination rate and get economies of scale in medicines,” he said.
According to the head of the budget committee, a budget update is also needed due to the expected increased refugee pressure on Bulgaria.
Asked to comment on the MRF’s position that it would not sign a “blank check” with the budget update, Karimanski said he did not use the term because it did not exist in finance. He added that he spoke with the caretaker Minister of Finance Asen Vassilev “in one financial language” and invited him, as well as the management of the Social Security Institute and the Health Insurance Fund to tomorrow’s meeting.
According to him, the budget for next year should be prepared by the next regular government.
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