Page 141 - SE Outlook Regions 2023

and no serious opposition there. Republika Sprska’s plan is to spend
BAM4bn.

Bosnia's public debt totalled BAM13bn at the end of September,
equivalent to 29.59% of the projected 2022 GDP, up from BAM12.8bn
at the end of the previous quarter, according to finance ministry data.

Bosnia's indebtedness reached its peak in 2014, when public debt
amounted to 43.4% of GDP, followed by a period of declining
indebtedness. In the period from 2015-2018 Bosnia implemented fiscal
consolidation, bringing the debt down, but it was pushed up again since
the start of the pandemic.

4.3 Budget and debt - Bulgaria

Bulgaria’s caretaker government has decided not to draft a budget for
2023, saying that this should be done by a regular government in
accordance with its policies and priorities. However, as of early January
there was no government in place following the October general
election.

The parliament decided at the end of November to extend the budget
bill for 2022 to 2023. The proposal to extend the budget bill was made
by the caretaker government of Prime Minister Gulub Donev and was
supported by the MPs of Gerb, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms
(DPS), the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and Bulgarian Ascend.

Reformist Change Continues and Democratic Bulgaria strongly
objected to the extension of the budget bill, saying it does not reflect the
situation in which the country would be in 2023 and would not give any
room for reforms or interventions in case the economic crisis worsens
further.

In the 2022 budget, Bulgaria set the deficit at 4.1% of GDP together
with the costs associated with the measures related to the coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic. The deficit excluding coronavirus-related costs
will be 2.5% of the projected end-year GDP.

The country reported a consolidated budget deficit of BGN610mn
(€311.9mn) in the first eleven months of 2022, equalling 0.4% of the
projected end-year GDP. Revenues and grants increased by 17.9%
year on year to BGN56.4bn. Expenditures increased to BGN57bn in
January-November 2022 from BGN47.1bn a year earlier.

Bulgaria’s gross external debt increased 6.9% year on year to €43.95bn
at end-September, according to preliminary central bank data, driven
mainly by the hike in the private sector external debt. The
end-September debt stock is equal to 55.6% of projected 2022 GDP.

Long-term external debt increased 1.8% y/y to €35.42bn at
end-September. Short-term external debt moved up 34.6% y/y to
€8.53bn. The public sector external debt went up 0.1% y/y to €12.5bn

141 SE Outlook 2023 www.intellinews.com