site.btaCentral Bank Chief Sees January 1, 2025, as Feasible Date for Eurozone Entry

Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) Governor Dimitar Radev believes that January 1, 2025, is a feasible date for the country to join the eurozone, provided that necessary efforts are made. Radev holds that, with the BNB and the Bulgarian banking sector already integrated into the economic and monetary union, there is nothing more that the national banking sector needs to do to finalize the process.

During a hearing at the National Assembly Committee on EU Affairs on Thursday, Radev noted that banking sector and currency stability is the hardest-to-meet criterion for a country's accession to the eurozone. Bulgaria had fulfilled this requirement by 2020, otherwise it would not have become a member of the banking union, he argued.

"The BNB and our banking sector are part of the eurozone to a large extent," Radev said. According to him, the only active criterion which is within the BNB's direct competence is currency stability. The very fact that the Bulgarian lev is pegged to the euro shows that this criterion has been met, he said.