Bulgaria set to adopt the euro starting January 2026
Press Hub UCapital
Share:
The year 2025 marks a major milestone for Bulgaria: starting from January 1st, 2026, the country is set to join the eurozone. The green light given on June 4 by both the European Commission and the European Central Bank "clears the path," as ECB chief economist Philip Lane said, for Sofia to launch the euro and become the 21st member of the common currency area.
In its Convergence Report, the ECB confirmed that Bulgaria has met the formal criteria required to adopt the euro, which is currently used by 347 million people across 20 EU countries.
The road to euro adoption hasn’t been easy or quick. Bulgaria began this journey in July 2020 by joining the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II), a key step to test the stability of its national currency, the lev. Entry into the mechanism was essential to ensure that the lev remained closely aligned with the euro in terms of exchange rate stability, inflation, and fiscal policy.
In its Convergence Report, the ECB confirmed that Bulgaria has met the formal criteria required to adopt the euro, which is currently used by 347 million people across 20 EU countries.
The road to euro adoption hasn’t been easy or quick. Bulgaria began this journey in July 2020 by joining the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II), a key step to test the stability of its national currency, the lev. Entry into the mechanism was essential to ensure that the lev remained closely aligned with the euro in terms of exchange rate stability, inflation, and fiscal policy.