„In terms of legislation, we are now fully in the Eurozone. Only the BNB law remains, which was approved by the European Central Bank in the last days of September, but it is technical, so it is rather a matter of parliamentary time. In terms of debt and deficit, we currently meet the conditions and we will continue to do so in 2024 and 2025. We only have the inflation criterion left.“
This was announced by Finance Minister Asen Vassilev during his participation in the third edition of the Powers Summit forum. He added that now the prices of food and energy are falling faster, and this helps us to bring down inflation faster. During the meeting of EU finance ministers and central bank representatives in December, our country will present the progress it has made on the way to the Eurozone. Vassilev again emphasized that January 1, 2025 is the target date for Bulgaria’s accession.
„We expect a positive decision in June next year based on the convergent reports. Over 60% of our trade is with Europe, that is, there we are very strongly connected to the euro. If you want to buy an apartment, they usually tell you the price in euros, not in BGN. In many places, receipts are already written in both euros and leva. We are in talks with both businesses and banking institutions. This is how many people begin to touch on what will actually happen,“, Asen Vassilev explained and added that Bulgaria is de facto in the Eurozone, because our exchange rate is fixed to the euro and has not changed, and interest rates are a direct consequence from what the European Central Bank does as a monetary policy.
„Some people are worried about the introduction of the euro because they are afraid that prices will increase. But until they see the changeover happen, they won’t believe it no matter what someone explains to them,“, the minister believes. According to him, after the last 3-4 years, people keep scaring them with different things and the society starts to develop an instinct and not to believe.
„At the moment, someone’s attempts to intimidate us are, first of all, groundless, and secondly, people have become numb – they see that it is not true,“, Assen Vassilev said.
The Minister of Finance shared with the participants the expectations for the development of the Bulgarian economy – more than 3% real economic growth in 2024. Around 4.8% inflation is expected, but most likely it will be a little lower – around 4.5%. even closer to 4%. The gross domestic product is expected to be BGN 205 billion, and the deficit – 3% of GDP.
„In general, we have not bet on something overly optimistic, this is a realistic forecast,“, Asen Vassilev stated. The minister added that „what we pledged last year is being realized, what we have pledged this year is also about to be realized.“
