Deputy Minister of Finances, Metodi Metodiev: "The interim government is intensively working on the preparation of Bulgaria for its accession to the Eurozone"

„Joining the Eurozone is a long-standing goal of Bulgaria and is among the main priorities of the current caretaker government. We continue to intensively implement the National Plan for the introduction of the euro in the Republic of Bulgaria." This was stated by the Deputy Minister of Finance Metodi Metodiev during the conference "Introduction of the euro - risks and challenges. The experience of Croatia".

The event is organized by the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, together with the Bulgarian-Croatian Business Club and the Office for Commercial and Economic Affairs of Bulgaria in Zagreb.

As part of the progress achieved, the deputy minister reported the finalization of the draft Law on the introduction of the euro in the Republic of Bulgaria, which has already received positive opinions from the European Commission and the European Central Bank, the deputy minister reported. The project has been in the works for the past year and a half, and for its preparation experience has been drawn from Croatia. It was uploaded for public discussion. A wide range of interested parties was also consulted, including with all seven working groups of the Coordination Council for the preparation of the Republic of Bulgaria for membership in the Eurozone, business and the non-governmental sector. The bill is currently sent for inter-institutional approval. "We expect that before the end of the mandate of the current caretaker government, the law will be passed by the Council of Ministers and sent directly to the newly created parliament, so that discussions on it can begin. And I really believe that, from the point of view of time, it is quite possible that it will be adopted by the National Assembly by the end of the summer," explained Metodiev.

Regarding the implementation of the Maastricht criteria, the Republic of Bulgaria covers three of the four nominal criteria. With the adoption of the new Law on the Bulgarian National Bank at the beginning of this year, all the findings of the previous Convergent Reports of the European Commission and the European Central Bank regarding the achievement of full compliance with Eurosystem legislation were addressed.

At this stage, the only criterion that remains a challenge for the country is that of price stability. Currently, a downward trend in inflation is reported in the country. According to the preliminary estimates of the Ministry of Finance, using the latest data from April, this will probably happen before the end of 2024. Then Bulgaria can use the possibility provided in the EU treaties to request an extraordinary assessment, explained Metodi Metodiev.