Bulgaria’s corporate and income taxes – currently set at flat rates of 10% - will not be increased, according to Deputy Finance Minister Ana Mihaylova.

Mihyalova has repudiated the claims floated in the Bulgarian media that further tax increases might follow after on Monday the government decided to increase the employees’ social security payments by 2% to make them 10%.

The Cabinet made this move in order to replace funding in the reserves of the National Health Insurance Fund which will be unblocked in order to make delayed payments to doctors and hospitals.

The increased health insurance payments are expected to bring additional BGN 300 million to the 2010 budget of the National Health Insurance Fund.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Dnevnik Daily cited an unnamed source claiming that the team of economists of the GERB party was planning to increase Bulgaria’s corporate and income taxes from 10% to 12%. No official indications of any sort have been made by government or ruling party members to date.