Bulgaria Delays Euro Entry, Agrees on Coins

Bulgaria is delaying its entry into the eurozone, and is likely to adopt the single currency in January 2025, as opposed to 2024 as originally planned.

Bulgaria has been committed to joining the euro area since 2007, when it became a member of the European Union. In 2020, the European Central Bank confirmed that both the Croatian kuna and the Bulgarian lev had been admitted to the Exchange Rate Mechanism, a prerequisite to full euro adoption.

Croatia joined the currency union this January. Shortly after, the Bulgarian Finance Minister announced that it would not file the necessary required Convergence Report, due in part to internal political uncertainty, and so the adoption date of 2024 will not be met. Hence speculation of a more likely date of January 2025.