Bulgaria's annual inflation rate reached the euro zone average of 2.4% in April, falling below 3% for the first time since summer 2021, significantly increasing the chances that the country will adopt the euro from 2025, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Euractic.・Told Bulgaria.
In response to questions from Euractic Bulgaria, Sofia authorities have shown signs of strong political will to join the eurozone.
“According to the preliminary assessment, Bulgaria has the potential to achieve price stability standards by the end of 2024. In this regard, the country will submit an additional (convergence, BA) report once it has met the price standards. “This is planned,” the Bulgarian Ministry of Finance said. Ministry.
The Ministry also confirmed that it will request a further focused report from YouActive Bulgaria on Bulgaria's eurozone readiness this autumn.
The latest inflation data for April released by the National Statistical Institute (NSI) confirms the country's clear trend of slowing inflation. A regular integrated report on Bulgaria's readiness to adopt the euro will be published in June 2024.
If Bulgaria does not meet the inflation criteria in the current report, it can request a new report after three months.
The latter could actually give Bulgaria the green light to join the eurozone, as the country's summer inflation rate is traditionally insignificant or negative.
Bulgaria also has a very low public debt of 23.1% of GDP and a budget deficit well below 3%, meeting other important criteria for euro area membership.
Brussels has also recently expressed its belief that Bulgaria can join the eurozone in 2025, with EU Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni speaking during a visit to Sofia about the process by which Bulgaria and Croatia will join the eurozone in 2025. He stated that there was no difference in treatment, and pointed out the following: He announced that “the entire eurozone family is very happy about the possibility of the 21st member state joining, namely Bulgaria, within the next year”.
The European Commission predicts that Bulgaria's GDP will grow by 1.9% in 2024 and 2.9% in 2025, with deficits of 2.8% and 2.9% this year and next.
“The only problem is inflation. If we don't react, the difference will be negligible,” said financial expert Rumen Garabinov, adding that macroeconomic indicators suggest Bulgaria will join the euro zone by mid-2024. It added that this shows that it meets all of the criteria.
(Emilya Mircheva | Euractiv.bg)
