The national priorities must be Schengen membership by the end of this year, entering the Eurozone by January 2025 and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) by 2026, said the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA). Employers expect MPs to elect a National Assembly speaker and a regular cabinet and adopt a regular budget, BICA President Vasil Velev said for the BNT. BICA calls for reducing the costs for administration, which increased with 112% as compared to 2019. According to BICA, social spending also increased too much.

“If nothing changes, there will be a budget deficit of about 7%. If our goal is to have a 3% deficit, our GDP has to be twice as big, which cannot happen in the next 5 or 6 years”, Vasil Velev said.