May 3 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's consolidated budget is expected to be in surplus of 883 million levs ($475 million/451.5 million euro) at the end of April, equivalent to 0.6% of the gross domestic product (GDP) projected for 2022, the finance ministry said, quoting preliminary data and estimates.
Consolidated budget revenue is expected to have grown by 6.5% on the year in the fourth month of 2022, to 17.8 billion levs, the ministry said in a statement over the weekend.
Consolidated budget expenditure is estimated at 16.9 billion levs as at the end of April, including Bulgaria's contribution to the European Union's budget, up from 16.5 billion levs a year earlier.
The projected four-month budget surplus compares with a surplus 171.6 million levs recorded in the same period of 2021, the ministry noted.
The consolidated budget was in surplus of 298 million levs in the first quarter of 2022, equivalent to 0.2% of the projected GDP for the current year, the finance ministry said in a separate statement over the weekend.
The amount of the fiscal reserve as of end-March is 7.5 billion levs, which includes 6.9 billion levs in fiscal reserve deposits with the Bulgarian National Bank and commercial banks as well as 0.6 billion levs in receivables from European Union funds for certified expenditures, advance payments and others.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)