The International Monetary Fund approved the project for lowering social securities starting next year. Yesterday, Bulgarian Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski returned from a meeting of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington. Several days ago the deputy finance minister Georgi Kadiev announced that social securities will fall from the current 29 per cent to 23 per cent.
IMF expressed its unwillingness to compromise on additional budgetary expenditure for this year and for 2006. One of the requirements the Cabinet has to meet is the avoidance of additional budgetary expenditure until the end of 2005. In Washington Oresharski also discussed the issue of the cancellation of the Iraqi debt to Bulgaria. Bulgaria was asked to remit the foreign debt of a number of poor countries. A decision on the issue has not been taken yet.
Oresharski confirmed the claims that the excise duties for cigarettes and alcohol will increase sharply next year. The preliminary increase, however, will deal with the issue of increased inflation shortly before Bulgaria joins the euro zone. In addition, higher excise duties will increase budget income, Sega newspaper reported.