Bulgarian Empire

Chapter 100: Government Is Running Out of Money

The first thing he did was to send Chekhov away, and Ferdinand was somewhat proud of himself. He had perfected his ability to bring in private matters. The things that are not related to each other were pulled together, but also so logical!

...

Chekhov is now in a terrible mood. The Ministry of Education's funding proposal was rejected by the Ministry of Finance, even honest ones can be angry! Simply 500,000 Leva, the Ministry of Finance dares to say that there is no money and suspend the funding. He is clearly not to give face!

At that time, Chekhov burst into the Ministry of Finance in a rage and went straight to the Minister of Finance, Kenedi Ivanov.

"Mr. Kenedi, can you tell me why the Ministry of Education is being withheld from this funding, don't tell me that the Ministry of Finance doesn't even have half a million Leva!!!"

Although he has tried to suppress his anger, the meaning of hiring the teacher is still very obvious.

In the face of Chekhov's protest, Kenedi was not annoyed. The Ministry of Finance has seen a lot of such things. It is still smiling and said:

"Mr. Chekhov, believe it or not, we really can't get this money out of the Ministry of Finance. Of course, it's not that the Ministry of Finance doesn't have money now. The problem is that all this money ~ has already been set for a certain area! We don't need to wait long either. As soon as the revenue from the tax sector is received next month, I will allocate the money to you at once!!!"

Chekhov did not believe in Minister of Finance Kenedi's claim. He exactly knew how Bulgaria's finances were, so how could they be short of 500,000 Leva!

He looked at Kenedi with a cynical smile and said with contempt, "Is that so! Then I'll ask Mr. Kenedi to go and explain to His Highness in person!"

After hearing this, Kenedi's face changed, and he knew Chekhov was furious, and he still didn't have the strength to resent the cabinet minister, who was a close friend of Ferdinand. He opened the vault, took out a stack of files and handed them over, and said with a bitter smile:

"Mr. Chekhov, now Bulgaria is using money all over. In addition to the previous budget, you should know how many project allocations have been added to the back! The Ministry of Finance just has more money, but it's not enough! If it continues, we will face a financial crisis in the near future. The details are here and are being ready to be reported to the cabinet!!!"

Chekhov took the files and looked at them carefully. The content has become alarming the more he read about it. He never thought how the government could spend so much money! After half a minute, he closed the files and said in disbelief, "Is this all true?"

"Of course! Every expense on this is clear, especially after the outbreak of the economic crisis. In order to get out of the crisis early, we launched many projects in advance, which greatly exceeded the budget. The previous savings, and loans, are now about to run out!" Kenedi said seriously.

Chekhov knows that the trouble is big. The outbreak of the financial crisis to not much, but many projects will be affected, abandoned, or postponed! It means that the rapid development of Bulgaria is about to end, which is now the government can not accept!

"I know! Why didn't you report the problem in advance if the problem is so serious?" Chekhov asked skeptically.

Kenedi said with a bitter smile, "Mr. Chekhov, we didn't expect before that so many new projects have been added in the last two months, and many of them are not part of the 'Second Five Plan'!!!"

When it comes to this, the two are really decided to shut up! It is all Ferdinand's woes, many projects behind this are personally approved by him, and then it is to proceed to discuss their own bosses to reprove.

...

After looking at the report sent up by the Ministry of Finance at the cabinet meeting in August, everyone is distressed! On the surface, there is nothing wrong now. That is completely manageable as long as there is no need to add new gold-devouring projects.

But this is impossible, not to mention the 'arsenal project' to be launched at the beginning of the year. It can not be stopped, right? There's no less than 5 million Leva to be spent on it!

There is also the big wedding of Ferdinand later, and it is a big expense. They can not save this, they can not lose the Knyaz's face, and they can not deny the face of Russia! And so on...

Konstantin broke the silence by saying, "Gentlemen, you've all seen the Ministry of Finance's report! If we are to carry on and complete the projects that have come behind us, at the most optimistic estimate:

In 1894 we will face a deficit of twelve million Leva. In 1895, we will face a deficit of thirty-five million; in 1896, we will face a deficit of fifty million Leva; and in 1897, this figure will reach eighty million Leva, which is already more than half of our present revenues!!!

In other words, we have a financial crisis coming to Bulgaria!!! This problem plagued Bulgaria many years ago, and now it is coming back, and what are we going to do?"

Now there are only two choices before for the cabinet: either to get money to solve the possible future outbreak of fiscal deficit; or to cut some projects and save money!

At present, the Bulgarian government's international debt is already as high as 1.5 billion Leva, and the annual interest payment is 11 million Leva. Compared to Greece's six billion, Serbia's three billion, it is not much!

However, everyone is reluctant to take out foreign loans, not to mention the high-interest rate. The key is to mortgage the sovereign! All those sitting here are in high positions of power, and no one wants to carry the name of traitor.

"Your Excellency, I propose to suspend certain not particularly vital projects and start them again when the finances improve!!!" said Minister of Finance Kenedi discreetly.

"No, I'm against it!!! The success of the 'Second Five-Year Plan' decided whether we, in Bulgaria, can complete industrialization or not! We can't delay or even give up just because of short-term difficulties!!!" The Minister of Industry instantly retorted to him.

"I support it!!! The government's current financial situation can no longer blindly start so many projects, or I fear that the amount of funding that follows will press us into bankruptcy!!!" The Minister of Foreign Affairs agreed.

"I am against it!!! It is already the most crucial moment for Bulgaria, and once we get through this one, nothing can stop Bulgaria from going strong anymore!!!" The Minister of Transport retorted.

...

Konstantin slapped the table with a loud 'bang' and said, "Enough! If you keep arguing like this, I think we will still be sitting here for the rest of the day! The old rule is to vote by raising your hands. The minority obeys the majority. There is no abstention! Those who agree with the Minister of Finance, please raise your hands!"

After he finished speaking, those who supported the idea of cutting the project raised their hands one after another. After sweeping the room, Konstantin also slowly raised his hand and said, "Five votes in favor, four votes against, passed!"