“Our new target is another date in 2024 to join the eurozone. We could try for July 1.”
He stated this before BNR Acting Minister of Finance Rositsa Velkova.
Kostadinov: The postponement of the euro is a success of “Vazrazhdane”
She was adamant that we would be rejected if Bulgaria submitted a request for a convergence report by the end of February, and reiterated the reasons why this request will not be submitted – because we have not fulfilled our commitments arising from our accession to the Monetary Mechanism 2 , and these are 4 laws that need to be passed, and the second reason is not meeting the inflation criterion.
“There is no point in submitting a request for such a report when we know that the answer will be no. As of July, there is a possibility that we will be able to cover the inflation criterion, but not 100%, and excluding from the averaging the countries with the most low inflation”.
The Deputy Minister of Finance: The Eurozone is by no means a mirage
“If the Eurozone is a priority for the 49th National Assembly, they can pass the necessary laws, as we will introduce them again. Then we could submit a request for an extraordinary convergence report in July. There is no obstacle, this has been discussed with the Commission. No a regulatory obstacle, if the whole process goes smoothly, to join the Eurozone on July 1, 2024. This will be a precedent if it happens, but it is not prohibited, nor is it impossible,” Minister Velkova explained.
After the adoption of the euro: BNB announced what will happen to bank accounts in BGN
“If we lose the goal of entering the Eurozone and give up on it, then there will be consequences – at least Bulgaria’s credit rating would be lowered and the yield and interest we will pay on external loans would be higher. But this is only in case of refusal to enter the eurozone. … We are not talking about a date from which we refuse, but we are talking about a date that is postponed in time, and our hope is that it will be by 6 months. Efforts continue,” Rositsa pointed out Velkova.
At the beginning of the 49th National Assembly, the caretaker government will submit a draft regular budget, the caretaker finance minister said.
Stoyanov explained what will happen to prices if it is decided in May that we enter the Eurozone
So far, the calculations show that the deficit in it will be around 6%, she specified and added that it is a matter of political decisions to reduce this percentage to 3 in order to meet the Maastricht criteria:
“If the certain political decisions to reduce costs are not made this year, there will be no way to reduce these costs in the following years.”
Minister Velkova emphasized that before a possible referendum on the leva and the euro, there should be a broad campaign in which the various positions are well explained.
