site.btaEconomic and Social Council Chair: All sectors Will Benefit Directly from Bulgaria's Accession to Euro Area

All sectors, especially the tourism sector, will benefit directly from joining the euro area, Economic and Social Council (ESC) Chairwoman Zornitsa Rusinova said on Tuesday during a discussion on Bulgarian tourism and Bulgaria's accession to the euro area, organized by the National Board of Tourism (NBT). The forum is held under the auspices of Tourism Minister Miroslav Borshosh in partnership with the Ministry.

Rusinova emphasized that the ESC is a unique advisory body that represents the common opinion of business, workers and civil society organizations. In recent years the ESC has remained one of the serious advocates of Bulgaria being a member of the euro area, she noted. In her words, what is valuable about the Council's analysis on the benefits of euro area membership is that it gives concrete examples and draws analogies with European countries that have joined the euro area in recent years and this analysis represents the common voice of business, workers and civil society organisations.

According to her, the euro area will catalyze concrete benefits for businesses and people's incomes.

“I would outline one of the benefits, which is quite often overlooked and often forgotten, that joining the eurozone could also help solve the big problem, especially for the tourism sector, with the lack of enough staff, because this will give an additional opportunity for transnational mobility, the daily commuting to work in another member state, which is now happening in other eurozone countries,” Rusinova said.

Petya Dimitrova, Chairwoman of the Executive Board of the Association of Banks in Bulgaria, assured that the banking institutions are already ready for the changeover to the euro and the lev. In her words, the banks have invested over BGN 400 million in systems, processes and digitalization to make the process of the changeover smooth and seamless.

She cited data from the Bulgarian National Bank, according to which banks have lent the tourism sector, hotels and restaurants more than BGN 2.3 billion at the end of 2024. The tourism industry covers serious sectors that banks finance and lend to and for us this partnership is very important, Dimitrova said.

According to her, the benefits of eurozone membership are indisputable and as examples she pointed to business development, strengthening competition, expanding markets, price transparency.