Despite the criticism, Bulgaria’s National Assembly adopted at first reading the 2024 budget. "We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria", GERB-SDS and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms voted in favour.

 Bulgaria’s Minister of Finance Assen Vassilev elaborated on the philosophy of the budget: "In order for the economy to grow, there must be investments, but also adequate pay. In recent years, Bulgarians' incomes have grown the most in the EU despite high inflation. If this continues, in the next 4 or 5 years we will see many more people returning to Bulgaria, simply because it is better to work and live here. However, we need to fix our infrastructure, make good use of the money that is being spent on health and education, so that those young people who would return have adequate social services’’, Assen Vassilev said.