Bulgaria on path to adopt euro in 2023, IMF’s Georgieva says

EU

Photo by esfera/Shutterstock.com

Bulgaria’s plans to enter the eurozone’s so-called waiting room this spring and adopt the euro currency in 2023 are “completely foreseeable”, the head of the International Monetary Fund has said, international news service Reuters reports.

Photo by esfera/Shutterstock.com

The Balkan country has been a member state of the European Union since 2007, and hopes to join the ERM-2 exchange rate mechanism (the waiting room or precursor to eurozone membership), by the end of April and adopt the euro in 2023.

“My expectations are that the plans for Bulgaria’s eurozone entry will happen exactly as made,” IMF head Kristalina Georgieva told Bulgaria’s national radio BNR, as cited by Reuters.

Georgieva, who is of Bulgarian origin, said eurozone entry will be beneficial for the country and provide more monetary security and shield it from global uncertainty.

Bulgaria, whose lev currency is already pegged to the euro, meets the nominal criteria to adopt the single currency, with healthy public finances and low debt, but is also one of the EU’s poorest and most corrupt member states, Reuters noted.

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