The introduction of the euro in Bulgaria will be accompanied by consumer protection measures
Joining the euro area is among the country’s top priorities. The introduction of the single European currency is proof of Bulgaria’s deepening European integration. This is what the Minister of Economy and Industry Dr. Petko Nikolov said at the conference ‘Bulgaria in the euro area, when?’. In his words, with its accession Bulgaria will make a big step forward and will participate in the process of monetary policy making in the EU. Our country will become part of a community where more than 340 million citizens of 20 EU member states use the euro as their national currency. In the minister’s words, Bulgaria’s membership in the most developed monetary union in the world will bring significant economic and social benefits.
Among the benefits for Bulgaria Nikolov pointed to the increase of the country’s credit rating after the adoption of the euro. ‘Bulgaria will be able to finance itself through loans with lower interest rates from international markets. The single currency would reduce transactions and costs for businesses, which would help the country’s foreign trade, have a positive effect on foreign investment and ensure comparability of prices and wages with European ones’, Nikolov said.
The economy minister outlined as a strategic goal of our country the fulfilment of the conditions for membership in the euro area by the end of 2024, after which the euro is to be introduced as the national currency. According to him, the actions needed to achieve this goal are related to budgetary discipline and to reducing inflation to levels comparable to the countries with the lowest inflation in the euro area. As a challenge for Bulgaria, Minister Nikolov pointed out that efforts are needed to meet the inflation criterion. ‘The Bulgarian administration is working hard to fully implement the European requirements in legislation in order to prepare businesses and consumers for the transition to the new currency’, he added.
‘The introduction of the euro in Bulgaria will be accompanied by specific measures to protect consumers, which include requirements for the correct conversion of prices from leva to euro, double marking of prices of goods and services in euro and in leva’, the economy minister said. He assured that the period of dual pricing would start one month after the date of entry into force of the Euro Adoption Decision and would end 12 months after the date of introduction of the euro.
Minister Nikolov was adamant that the transition from the lev to the euro should be smooth and informed so that the benefits of membership could be felt by all Bulgarian citizens and businesses. ‘Businesses will have ample time to prepare for the actual migration of IT, in-house process management and payment systems’, he added.
The conference ‘Bulgaria in the euro area, when?’ is organized by the Association of Honorary Consuls in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian CFA Association and the Association of Banks in Bulgaria. The event will take place in two panels focusing on the political aspects as well as on the economic and financial perspectives before and after accession. Success stories of European countries that have already adopted the euro as their national currency will be discussed.