The first meeting of Prime Minister Boiko Borissov’s Cabinet saw ministers emerge to say that the Budget was in worse condition than the previous government tried to portray, while new Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov said that Bulgaria was set for 6.3 per cent shrinkage in its economy in 2009.
 
The plan had been for the July 29 2009 Cabinet meeting to look at ways to save money by optimising spending by ministries – including the possibility of achieving this in part by cutting staff.

After the meeting it was announced that next week, ministries will try to come up with ways to address the worsening deficit. Finance Minister Dyankov will synthesise these into a plan to cut spending before the end of the year, and put this to next week's Cabinet meeting.
 
Dyankov, speaking at a news conference after the Cabinet meeting, said that Bulgaria was facing a 16 per cent shortfall in Budget revenue – a 2.5 billion leva gap that had to be filled.
 
The Budget bequeathed by former prime minister Sergei Stanishev and former finance minister Plamen Oresharski had worked into it economic growth of 4.7 per cent, a figure now of no relevance to reality.
 
Dyankov, who before he took office as Finance Minister said that he, with international experts, intended going over the government’s books to find out what the real picture was, said that consideration was being given to dealing with the deficit by cutting spending while finding additional sources of revenue.
 
"We need to reduce costs by 2.5 billion leva, not as previously expected two billion leva," Dyankov said.
 
The Borissov Government will keep a close eye on Bulgaria’s economic performance and if need be, propose amendments to the Budget in autumn.
 
In spite of earlier reports, Borissov’s administration will not target health and social payments. It also does not appear that it will reduce spending on education.
 
Speaking before the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said that the Borissov administration intended scrapping the decree issued in the dying days of the Stanishev government reducing the salaries of ministers and senior state officials by 15 per cent.
 
During the election campaign, Borissov’s party GERB dismissed the move by the Stanishev government as populist, meaningless and ineffective in the face of a serious financial crisis.
 
Speaking to Bulgarian National Television before the meeting, Foreign Minister Roumyana Zheleva, asked about possible staff cuts at her ministry, said that the first step would be to optimise costs and then speak to staff, "because we cannot repair the image of Bulgaria without people who care and who are the face of Bulgaria".