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Eurogroup welcomes Bulgaria’s progress towards adopting the euro

by AI | 21.Mar 2025 | Europe in brief AI

The conclusion was adopted during the meeting of the European Council in Brussels

By decision of the National Assembly, Bulgaria will adopt the euro while maintaining the official exchange rate of the lev to the euro, equal to the central rate of 1.95583 leva per 1 euro. Photo: Milena Stoykova/BTA

BRUSSELS/SOFIA – The Eurozone countries welcomed Bulgaria’s progress towards adopting the common currency. This is stated in the conclusions of the Eurogroup countries, adopted within the European Council meeting in Brussels. We await the assessment of the European Commission (EC) and the European Central Bank (ECB), the text adds.

In February, Bulgaria requested that the EC and ECB prepare extraordinary reports on the country’s readiness to adopt the euro. In Brussels, the Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov told journalists that he expects the reports to be ready by May or June.

I hope that the efforts of the Bulgarian society over the past decades to maintain fiscal discipline and balanced budgets will produce the expected result, he pointed out in a meeting with ECB President Christine Lagarde and Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe.

Bulgaria is one of the few EU countries that unconditionally fulfills all nominal convergence criteria, including the price stability criterion, which we had issues with in recent years, said Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) Governor Dimitar Radev at a conference in Sofia. We have one final step left. I am convinced that we are capable of taking it with dignity and confidence, Radev said.

The progress of Bulgaria towards joining the Eurozone was also noted by the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Odile Renaud-Basso. In an interview with BTA, she stated that there is a strong understanding in the country of the need to maintain the budget deficit at 3 percent. The economy is still growing quite strongly in positive territory compared to the rest of the EU, Renaud-Basso pointed out and recalled the institution’s growth rate forecasts for the Bulgarian economy of 2.4 percent in 2025 and 2.8 percent in 2026.

After a 22-hour session yesterday, the Bulgarian National Assembly adopted the state budget for 2025, which includes a budget deficit of 3 percent of GDP.

In last year’s regular reports, the EC and ECB noted that Bulgaria did not then meet the only requirement for price stability. The European Union’s (EU) statistical office, Eurostat, presented data this week for February, according to which inflation in Bulgaria now corresponds to the price stability requirement. (20-21.03.2025)