Prime Minister Denkov: Bulgaria’s goal for joining the euro area is January 1, 2025

Bulgaria’s goal for joining the euro area is 1 January ,2025, Prime Minister Acad. Nikolay Denkov said after a meeting with Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe, the government information service said on January 18. The talks were also attended by Finance Minister Assen Vassilev and co-chairman of the parliamentary group of "We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria" Kiril Petkov. The meeting was held within the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The main topic was the next steps to increase Bulgaria's chances of becoming a member of the euro area from 1 January 2025.

The Prime Minister pointed out that the President of the Eurogroup is well acquainted with the situation in Bulgaria and the country's progress in meeting the Maastricht criteria. With the exception of the inflation criterion, Bulgaria meets all other conditions.

"The Eurogroup President's conclusion was clear - if Bulgaria manages to meet the inflation criterion, then we will not have a problem with the euro area," said PM Denkov.

The PM recalled that a large part of inflation is imported from outside and control is not entirely within the government's capabilities.

"The assessment is extremely good. We are all working together for Bulgaria to officially become a member of the eurozone on 1 January 2025," Finance Minister, Assen Vassilev, said after the meeting.

He noted that the country has reached a deficit of 2.2% of GDP and this is highly appreciated. Minister Vassilev added that the final assessment will be in June, when the European convergence reports for 2024 are released. The final decision will take into account the inflation data in Bulgaria in May as well.

"The movement is very good. In December, it fell below 5% on the national inflation measure, while inflation in the euro area rose slightly. We will watch the next few months to see how this develops," the Finance Minister said.

He also added that in order to be ready to join the eurozone, in terms of legislatin, it is important for the Parliament to pass the law on the Bulgarian National Bank.

"Bulgarians should not be afraid of the euro, but we should introduce it as soon as possible to enjoy even faster economic growth," said Kiril Petkov, co-chairman of the parliamentary group of "We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria".

Prime Minister, Nikolay Denkov, had a series of meetings during yesterday's second day of his visit to Davos. The Prime Minister held talks with the CEOs of leading global companies.

Innovation and development of applied technologies were the focus of the talks of Acad. Denkov with Miljan Gutovic, the region head for Europe of the Swiss giant Holcim, as well as with Jacob Aarup-Andersen,,CEO of the Carlsberg Group CEO, of Planet Labs Will Marshall and of the CEO of Voyager Space, Dylan Taylor. The Prime Minister also met with Jim Lu, Huawei's Senior Vice President and President of the European Region. Economic issues were discussed during the Bulgarian Prime Minister's meeting with Jared Cohen, President of Global Affairs at Goldman Sachs. In the conversation with the longest-serving leader of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, PM Denkov especially thanked for the support for Schengen, the press office of the Council of Ministers further informed.

Source:BTA