Bulgarian Finance Minister: No reason for a negative report on eurozone membership readiness
Temenuzhka Petkova believes the country meets all the criteria and expressed hope for a positive assessment
© ECONOMIC.BG / BTA
~ 2 min read
Simona Gotsova Bulgaria meets all numerical criteria for joining the eurozone, and we hope for a positive assessment from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Commission (EC).
This was stated by the country’s Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova to reporters on Friday. Her comment was in response to a question about whether the BNB's forecasted higher average annual inflation for 2025 could prove to be an obstacle on the country's path to adopting the euro on January 1, 2026.
A few days ago, Eurostat confirmed that Bulgaria meets the price criterion for March. At this stage, there are no grounds for concern," said Petkova.
The assessment by the ECB and the EC is expected to be published on June 4 of this year.
In her statement, the finance minister once again pointed out that the management of public finances over the past 4 years has led to their destabilization and the formation of a 9-billion-euro gap in the state budget. “The creator of this disastrous model is Rumen Radev, this is the truth,” Petkova said, referring to today's comment made by the Bulgarian President on the first 100 days of the Zhelyazkov cabinet. Radev stated it represented “a new beginning of the Borissov model.”
Well-thought-out steps
Petkova also touched on the topic of the country's pension system.
On Thursday, Social Minister Borislav Gutsanov said that work is underway in the next six months to prepare a roadmap for reforms of the Bulgarian pension system. He added that people should be calm about rumored increase in the retirement age and that the Swiss rule for modernizing pensions remains a priority.
On Friday, he said he would demand an increase in maternity benefits (which were frozen at 390 euros this year), as well as funding for mothers returning to work.
However, Petkova countered that an expert debate on this topic is still pending.
Every step must be well thought out and evaluated," emphasized the finance minister.
Translated by Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
