site.btaParliament Tells Government to Make Sure Euro Changeover Takes Place on January 1, 2024

The National Assembly on Thursday tasked the government with speeding up the process of adopting the single European currency in Bulgaria, confirmed January 1, 2024 as the target date, and set the exchange rate at the current fixed level of BGN 1.95583 for one euro.

The proposal came from the largest parliamentary group, GERB-UDF, and passed by a vote of 157-28, with 23 abstentions. Vazrazhdane voted against it, while BSP for Bulgaria and Bulgarian Rise abstained from voting.

Under the parliamentary resolution, the Council of Ministers, in coordination with the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), must expedite the consultations and the negotiations with EU institutions, the Eurozone countries and the countries participating in the Exchange Rate Mechanism in order to replace the national currency with the euro on January 1, 2024.

The house debate largely reaffirmed the positions expressed during a hearing of the BNB management earlier on Thursday.