Bulgaria's central bank: Technical preparation on the adoption of the euro continues

The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) has no formal justification and has not suspended the technical work on the adoption of the euro. It is being carried out according to schedule and within the framework of the bank's budget for 2023, the press office of the Bulgarian National Bank said on May 18 in relation to political comments that the process of joining the euro area should be stopped.

Earlier on Thursday, Vazrazhdane MP Deyan Nikolov pointed out that since Bulgaria will not enter the euro area in 2024, the National Assembly’s decision obliging the institutions to speed up the work on Bulgaria’s admission among the countries using the single European currency is not binding.

MP Nikolov urged the next steps towards Bulgaria’s euro zone entry, if there are any, to be taken after the referendum initiated by the party he represents.

BNB also pointed out that the work on integrating Bulgaria into the euro area has not stopped:

"On 13 April this year, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the euro area. On 13 April, the BNB's Governing Council adopted a draft of a new BNB Law, which creates the legal framework for the BNB's work in the euro area. The draft has been submitted to the Ministry of Finance and is being coordinated with the ECB. Preparations for the test minting of the Bulgarian euro coins and the adaptation of the payment systems are also on track."

As regards another topic raised by "Vazrazhdane" - the return of Bulgaria's gold reserves from London, BNB said:

"The BNB provides comprehensive information on the country's gold reserves in its periodic public reports. Relocation of gold reserves is not on the agenda and has no connection with the process of the country’s accession to the Eurozone."

Images by BGNES/archive

Source: BTA