First Pensions Paid in Euros: More Than Two Million People to Receive Payments in the New Currency

More than two million people will receive their pensions in euros, following their conversion at the Bulgarian National Bank’s fixed exchange rate of 1.95583 leva to the euro.

Pensioners can check the amount of their pension in euros via the updated electronic portal of the National Social Security Institute (NSSI). The institute has also announced that enquiries about pension amounts in the new currency will soon be available at its service counters.

Lilyana Samokovska, an expert in the “Pensions” Directorate at the NSSI, explained:

“The amounts of pensions do not change, as they have only been converted at the fixed official exchange rate of the lev to the euro, which is 1.95583. Conversion is always carried out using the full fixed rate, with all five digits after the decimal point. Pension amounts are then rounded in a specific manner, in accordance with the Euro Adoption Act, in order to protect the interests of beneficiaries. This means that if the third digit after the decimal point is greater than zero, the second digit is increased by one.”