Bulgaria's fiscal reserve, which the country is required to maintain under the terms of its currency board agreement, shrank by 4.2 per cent to 7.95 billion leva in March, Finance Ministry data showed.

The total decrease was 350 million leva, caused in part by the 73.9 million leva deficit to the consolidated budget, Dnevnik daily quoted the Finance Ministry as saying.

Industrial parks are one of the initiatives of the Socialist-led Cabinet to fight economic slowdown in Bulgaria. Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev's stimulus package, which emphasised government investment, has been criticised by political opponents and analysts alike, who said that the measures did little to directly stimulate businesses.

The Cabinet has had to dip into its reserves after first quarter Budget revenue fell by 343.7 million leva compared to the same period of 2008. But while last year by end-March the Cabinet had collected 25.2 per cent of its full-year target, in the first quarter of this year, it only managed 20.3 per cent.

The International Monetary Fund has already advised Sofia to cut back its Budget spending, but the Cabinet is yet to do so. According to the chairperson of Parliament's budget and finance committee, Roumen Ovcharov, quoted by website mediapool.bg, the Socialists were in favour of setting aside 20 per cent of the funds allocated to ministries for 2009, up from 10 per cent now, to serve as a buffer against falling tax revenue. The Cabinet, however, was unlikely to completely reshuffle the Budget, he said.