site.btaConvergence Report Likely to Be Ready in Early June - PM Zhelyazkov

The convergence report is likely to come out at the beginning of June, but from there on all the steps for consideration in ECOFIN, the Eurogroup and the European Parliament are to be taken, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov told journalists here on Tuesday as he took part in the official opening of the extension of the Nestle Bulgaria factory in Sofia.

The Prime Minister explained that there is a long process ahead, in which the European Central Bank and the European Commission have to make an assessment and there are many steps that have to show whether Bulgaria is ready for the introduction of the euro on January 1, 2026.

At an extraordinary meeting on Monday, the Bulgarian Government approved a decision to request ad hoc convergence reports on Bulgaria from the European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB), the Government Information Service reported. The decision is based on the Eurostat's January 2025 data on inflation in the EU Member States published earlier on Monday, which show that the reference value for the price stability criterion for entry in the eurozone is calculated at 2.6%. The inflation rate in Bulgaria was 2.6% in the same period, meaning that the country meets the last criterion for euro area membership with its January data.