Audit Office to Review Pension and Social Benefit Increases.

The review will cover the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and the National Social Security Institute, and the draft decision is expected to be discussed by the parliamentary budget committee on Tuesday.

The audit must establish whether the increase in pensions and social benefits from 2020 to 2026 corresponds to sustainable social security revenues. The pension model, the Swiss rule, the minimum and maximum pension levels, as well as the budgets since 2020, will be reviewed. The draft decision, proposed by budget committee chair Konstantin Prodanov and a group of MPs, provides for the audit to be carried out by the National Audit Office within one year.

In their motives, the sponsors state that the main objective is to determine whether legislative and secondary acts have led to public spending growing faster than sustainable revenues. The reason for the audit is the imbalance between revenues and expenditures in the treasury, which coincides with the period of political instability. State auditors must review the pension expenditures of the National Social Security Institute and the social assistance spending of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy for the period from 2020 to 2026.

Petar Vitanov, chair of the parliamentary group of Progressive Bulgaria, said the audit would not lead to a reduction in pensioners’ money, but its aim is to reveal the voluntaristic approach under which pension funds were increased. He said the same audit would also be requested for road projects, including the controversial guardrails, and promised a constructive discussion on the budget without withdrawing it.

By September 30, the National Audit Office will also have to present an audit of expenditures made by the Road Infrastructure Agency. The governing parties blame previous cabinets for Galab Donev’s draft budget, which will have a 5.7% deficit.