The government has drafted rules on managing state finances to strengthen fiscal soundness over the long term.

In 2025, the debt-to-gross-domestic-product ratio will be kept at 60 percent or below, while the consolidated budget balance, which is total revenue minus total expenditure, will remain within minus three percent of GDP.

The Finance Ministry on Monday announced a set of rules to this effect which allows exceptions during serious economic crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The guidelines have been introduced to prevent rapid fiscal spending from causing another crisis on its own even during difficult times and disaster situations when an expansionary fiscal stance is inevitable.

Given the ongoing pandemic, the new rules will be applied from the year 2025.

The government drew up four extra budgets this year, with the debt ratio expected to climb to 59 percent of GDP in 2024.