Ministry of Finance: Bulgaria has five months to meet the criteria for joining the eurozone

Bulgaria has five months to meet the criteria to join the eurozone in January 2025, Deputy Minister of Finance Ivaylo Yajdjiev said on January 19. According to him, two main criteria remain to be fulfilled, namely - the inflation rate must be lower, and the BNB law must be adopted in order for Bulgaria’s central bank to meet the European requirements.

Deputy Minister Yajdjiev explained that as of December, the average inflation rate in the eurozone was below 3%, while in Bulgaria it was 5%. The country should meet the inflation in the three countries with the lowest indicator.

Brussels has to prepare a convergence report as the data for it will be taken in May and the report itself will be released in June.

The Finance Ministry recalled that Croatia also did not fully meet the criteria for joining the euro area, but a concession was made for the country. It is up to the rapporteurs whether Bulgaria could get one too.

Our country meets the other Maastricht criteria, namely - the level of debt and interest rates. The Bulgarian National Bank has already started the process of searching for places to store the seized Bulgarian currency after it leaves circulation, Yajdjiev explained.

The new logo of the country's accession campaign was also unveiled today at the finance ministry. It was designed by 24-year-old Georgi Georgiev from Plovdiv. His design was chosen among 22 others. The slogan of the campaign is "Unity is Strength".