On 7 and 8 May 2025, the National Statistical Institute hosted a regular Eurostat Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) dialogue visit about the notification tables for the deficit/surplus and the debt of the “General Government” sector. The mission was led by Mr. Gabriele Semeraro, Director of Eurostat’s “Government Finance Statistics” Directorate and representatives of the statistical body of the European Commission and included an observer from the European Central Bank.
On the Bulgarian side, the meeting was attended by Svilen Kolev, PhD Deputy President of the NSI, experts from the Macroeconomic Statistics Directorate of the NSI, as well as representatives from four directorates of the Ministry of Finance, the Statistics Directorate of the Bulgarian National Bank and the National Audit Office.
During the two-day visit, the statistical production of the notification tables for the budget balance and the debt of the “General Government” sector was discussed, including the implementation of the European legislation in the field, good practices for institutional cooperation, the analysis of collected data on debt and budget balance (deficit or surplus) and other methodological questions.
The regular visit, which occurs once on every two years in all EU Member States, was held in a crucial moment for the preparation of Republic of Bulgaria for the euro area accession.
The report of Eurostat with the final findings of the mission will be prepared and consulted with the Bulgarian statistical authorities. The final report will be published on the Eurostat’s website.
