Bulgaria's 2009 budget deficit was actually 4.7% of the GDP, rather than 3.9%, according to final Eurostat data released Friday.

Thus, Bulgaria's 2009 budget deficit figures have seen one more revision. In April 2010, the Bulgarian Cabinet itself revised the previously known figure of 1.9% on cash base to 3.9% of the GDP triggering an inspection on part of Eurostat and worries of data cooking similar to the forgery of state finances data in Greece.

The reason stated by the Borisov Cabinet for the April revision were the so called "hidden" or "secret" contracts and annexes to contracts for public procurement allegedly made by the Stanishev government in its last year, which were said to have resulted in additional state spending of BGN 2.15 B.

Subsequently, Bulgaria was placed under the EU excessive deficit procedure, a program to reduce deficit to below 3% as stipulated by the stability and growth pact. The Eurostat exploratory mission to Bulgaria in September rejected any suspicions of data cooking and praised the work of the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute.

Bulgaria, Slovakia and Latvia are the EU countries with the greatest increases of their 2009 deficits as a result of the Eurostat data revision. Germany on the other hand is found to have reduced its budget deficit fitting below the 3% threshold.

The revisions in the deficit for Bulgaria are mainly due to the implementation of the time-adjusted cash method for the recording of accrual tax revenue (2006-2009) and the reclassification of the railway infrastructure company inside the general government sector (2007), Eurostat says.

According to the final Eurostat data, in 2009, Bulgaria had a budget deficit of BGN 3.211 B (or 4.7%), from a surplus of BGN 1.149 B (1.7%) in 2008. Its total GDP was BGN 68.537 B (down from BGN 69.295 B in 2008).

Bulgaria's government expenditure as a percentage of the GDP grew from 37.6% in 2008 to 40.6% in 2009. Government revenue declined from 39.3% of the GDP to 35.9% of the GDP.

Bulgaria's government debt amounted to BGN 10 B, up from BGN 9.5 B in 2008, or 14.7%, up from 13.7% in 2008. The increase in the debt for 2007-2009 is due to the reclassification of the railway infrastructure company inside the general government sector.

At the end of 2009, the lowest ratios of government debt to GDP were recorded in Estonia (7.2%), Luxembourg (14.5%), Bulgaria (14.7%), Romania (23.9%) and Lithuania (29.5%). Eleven Member States had government debt ratios higher than 60% of GDP in 2009: Italy (116.0%), Belgium (96.2%), Hungary (78.4%), France (78.1%), Portugal (76.1%), Germany (73.4%), Malta (68.6%), the United Kingdom (68.2%), Austria (67.5%), Ireland (65.5%) and the Netherlands (60.8%).

"Тhe GDP for 2009 notified in October 2010 for EDP purposes was revised by a number of Member States compared to that notified in April 2010 by small amounts, and by larger amounts (more than 1% of GDP) for Bulgaria, Ireland, Latvia, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden. Changes in GDP affect deficit and debt ratios due to the denominator effect," Eurostat explained.

In 2009 the largest government deficits in percentage of GDP were recorded in Ireland (-14.4%), the United Kingdom (-11.4%), Spain (-11.1%), Latvia (-10.2%), Portugal (-9.3%), Lithuania (-9.2%), Romania (-8.6%), Slovakia (-7.9%), France (-7.5%) and Poland (-7.2%). No Member State registered a government surplus in 2009. The lowest deficits were recorded in Luxembourg (-0.7%), Sweden (-0.9%) and Estonia (-1.7%). In all, 24 Member States recorded a worsening in their government deficit relative to GDP in 2009 compared with 2008, and two (Estonia and Malta) an improvement.

Eurostat did not report data for Greece because of reservations; data for Greece as well as for the EU 27 and the Euro Area are expected in November.

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