site.btaWe Inherited Commitment for Euro Introduction Plan, We Left All Criteria Covered, Except Inflation, Assen Vassilev Says

Assen Vassilev from the parliamentary group of Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) and former Finance minister said Wednesday that the third cabinet of Boyko Borisov left a decree from March 25, 2021, in which "a draft national plan for the introduction of the euro in Bulgaria must be developed by June 30, 2021". "As finance minister, I made it my duty to develop a draft national plan", Vassilev said.

Earlier on Wednesday, GERB leader Boyko Borissov accused CC-DB and other majorities of having done nothing for years to contribute for Bulgaria's accession into the euro area.

Vassilev stressed that GERB's decree had been implemented in time - June 30, 2021. "We have reached the moment when the last convergence report said that Bulgaria had met all the criteria for euro area membership without inflation", he said. "What we set out to do is to develop a plan, what we left - all criteria met, no inflation, he said, explaining that potential membership in the euro area means Europe is waiting for us to meet all the criteria to join."

In connection with claims of impoverishment of the Bulgarian people, Assen Vassilev quoted data of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), according to which household savings from June 2021 to September 2024 have increased by about BGN 21 billion, i.e. all Bulgarian households have BGN 21 billion. Business savings for this period have risen by about BGN 16 billion, he stressed.

"At the moment, businesses and households have about BGN 134 billion in the country's banks. If the impoverishment of the people is to save 21 billion more in the banks, I do not think there is more to comment," concluded Assen Vassilev.

"What I also said yesterday is that if the budget for this year is 40% spending of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as the previous ones have been, and with a 3% deficit - the CC will support it," Vassilev clarified.