Bulgaria's budget surplus widened to a record 2.87 billion lev ($2.1 billion) in August on increased tax collection.

The Balkan country's surplus increased from 2.4 billion lev ($1.75 billion) in July, the Sofia-based Finance Ministry said on its Web site today.

Bulgaria pledged to the International Monetary Fund and the European Union to sustain a budget surplus of around 2 percent of gross domestic product this year to compensate for an expanding current-account deficit.

Total budget revenue, which includes taxes, state pension and health-care payments, rose 17.3 percent in August from the previous year to 15.24 billion lev, while spending was 12 billion lev.