et for 1972. Out of a total outlay of
6,514 million leva, 3,224 million leva was earmarked for the national
economy, and 2,065 million leva was set aside for social and cultural
needs. The remaining undisclosed balance of 1,225 million leva, or 19
percent of the total outlays, must have included expenditures for
defense, internal security, and government administration. The social
and cultural expenditures included; social security payments, 1,054
million leva; education, 532 million leva; public health, 303 million
leva; culture and arts, 83 million leva; and science, 93 million leva,
in addition to 235 million leva to be provided by research organizations
and economic trusts.

Information on the budget for 1973 was more sketchy. No information had
been disclosed on the magnitude of the expenditure on the national
economy; the usually undisclosed residual was therefore also not
ascertainable. The increase in overall revenues and expenditures over
those in 1972 was about 8 percent. Outlays for social and cultural
affairs, however, were planned to increase by 11.8 percent, including
increases of 18.8 and 15.7 percent, respectively, for public health and
education. These figures reflected the government's announced program
for increasing the well-being of the population.

The BKP and government leadership look upon the budget as a major tool
for executing BKP economic policies. As expressed by the minister of
finance in 1973, the budget contains a whole arsenal of financial and
economic levers--levers that must be used ever more skillfully to raise
the efficiency of economic performance, to improve the structure of
production and consumption, and to bring about a well-balanced economy.
The budget is also considered a tool for exercising effective control
over the entire sphere of production and services, not only to ensure
smooth current operations but also to inhibit any undesirable departures
from official policy.

The disciplinary powers of the budget have yet to be more fully
developed to cope successfully with the officially reported shortcomings
in the economy. One step in this direction calls for the further
intensification of what has been officially called financial and bank
control through the lev, that is, the discretionary use of financial
sanctions, including the denial of budgetary allocations or bank
credits, to enforce strict compliance with specific plan directives.
Another advocated measure is to inte