site.btaCC-DB Parliamentary Group Describes Euro Area Membership as Upgrade on Bulgarian Currency Peg

To Bulgaria, euro area membership is an upgrade on the national currency peg to the single European currency and a build-up on the European identity of the Bulgarians, MP Martin Dimitrov said on Wednesday, presenting a declaration by the Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) parliamentary group in the debating chamber of the National Assembly.

Dimitrov said: “The euro is an improvement on the currency board arrangement [in Bulgaria] and a chance for Bulgarian banks to be supported by the European Central Bank [ECB] with credit lines in case of crisis. No country that has adopted the euro has ever suffered high inflation due to the currency changeover.”

He argued: “As Bulgaria adopts the euro, it will preserve its national identity and will build upon its European identity. Bulgarian euro coins will bear the inscription ‘God save Bulgaria,’ images of renowned Bulgarians will be on the coins, [versions of which] are in circulation in 20 other countries. Bulgaria will finally gain the place it deserves at the heart of Europe. This is a momentous time when the Putinist forces at home and abroad are doing everything to bury us in the Eurasian periphery.”

The euro changeover will make Bulgarians richer, with wages rising in the private sector initially, and in the public sector later. “Bulgaria will attract more investments, international companies and tourists, and will do more trade with the rest of the EU, which means better-paid jobs. After the adoption of the euro, the movement of people, goods and capital will become far easier, Bulgarian companies will become more competitive, the country’s credit rating will rise while loan rates will fall, which means more policies for the people in healthcare, education, social affairs,” CC-DB believes. The group expects that the euro changeover will provide access to all ECB instruments.

“It is an absolute lie that the exchange rate of the lev to the euro will change. It will remain at BGN 1.95583 to EUR 1. Retailers already show prices in both currencies to avert profiteering and deception,” Dimitrov went on to say. “After we adopt the euro, we will have a currency which keeps inflation low.”

Accession to the euro area will create an auspicious environment for more effective struggle with corruption and for a genuine judicial reform. “Euro area entry is the last decisive step forward on our path to European integration,” Dimitrov said.

He recalled that 29 years ago Bulgaria suffered one of the worst financial and political crises in its recent history. In the spring of 1996 wages fell by 19% monthly in real terms and 15 banks declared bankruptcy. The national financial system, economy and political stability were salvaged by the currency board arrangement, which meant that the country would no longer pursue its own monetary policy. Now, by joining the euro area, Bulgaria will benefit from the world’s second most powerful currency, Dimitrov said.

By signing its Treaty of Accession to the EU in 2005, Bulgaria committed to adopting the euro as an official currency as soon as it fulfills the Maastricht criteria. As a result, a possible referendum on whether and when the country should adopt the euro became not only meaningless but also contrary to an international treaty, Dimitrov said.