At a consolidated level, Bulgaria's budget was nearly balanced by September 30, 2010, with revenues exceeding expenditures by an insignificant 18.9 million leva. The deficit was unchanged in the third quarter, the Finance Ministry said in a press release on Monday.

By the end of September, the budget under the consolidated fiscal program was in a 1,517.9 million leva deficit, of which 1,508.1 million leva on the national budget and 9.7 million leva on EU funds.

Receipts under the consolidated fiscal programme for the nine-month period of 2010 amounts to 17,355.8 million leva or 70.7 per cent of the updated annual estimates for 2010. Since June, tax receipts have been showing the first signs of

stabilization, especially in the part of indirect taxes, with tax revenues for July, August and September exceeding the revenues for the same months of 2009. These were the first months with a year-on-year growth of tax revenues since the beginning of the year.

The tax receipts at the end of September, including revenues from social insurance contributions, totalled 13,576.2 million leva or 78.2 per cent of the total receipts under the consolidated fiscal programme.

Direct tax revenues stood at 2,609.4 million leva or 75 per cent of the updated annual estimate. Indirect tax revenues amounted to 6,801.2 million leva or 69 per cent of the updated annual estimate. VAT revenues amounted to 4,189.7 million leva or 71.5 per cent of the updated estimate for 2010. Excise duty receipts stood at 2,518.7 million leva by September 30, 2010, or 64.6 per cent. Customs duty revenues amounted to 92.8 million leva, up 0.8 per cent from the updated annual target.

Other tax receipts amounted to 532.6 million leva, or 73.9 per cent of the plan for 2010. Revenues from social insurance and health contributions for the nine-month period totalled 3,633.0 million leva or 70.3 per cent of the annual estimates.

Non-tax revenues amounted to 2,608.0 million leva or 76.7 per cent of the annual estimates. Grants received by September 30 were mainly advance payments from the EU Structural and Cohesion Funds to the budget of the National Fund and receipts from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development to the budget of the Paying Agency at State Fund Agricuolture. They totaled 1,171.6 million leva or 60.6 per cent of the annual plan.

Expenditures under the consolidated budget (including Bulgaria's contribution to the General Budget of the EU) amounted to 18,873.7 million leva, or 67.9 per cent of the updated annual estimate.

The structure of expenditures has shifted from January-September 2009. A 9 per cent increase in social and health insurance contributions from the like period a year ago was offset by lower outlays on maintenance and capital expenditures.

Regardless of the settlement of liabilities for prior years in the first months of 2010, capital expenditures by the end of September 2010 remained far below the level reported for the comparable period of 2009. This was the result of consolidating measures to curb non-interest expenditures and transfers/subsidies under the executive budget by up to 20 per cent. Current non-interest expenditures amounted to 15,900.7 million leva or 74.6 per cent of the annual plan. Capital expenditures (including the net state reserve gains) amounted to 1,999.6 million leva or 52.7 per cent of the updated estimates for 2010, and interest payments to 444.7 million leva or 87.7 per cent of the target under the 2010 budget update.

The portion of Bulgaria's contribution to the EU General Budget, paid by the central government budget until the end of the third quarter, amounted to 528.8 million leva.

The fiscal reserve amounted to 6,700 million leva by September 30, 2010.

Source: BTA