Bulgaria Gets Green Light for Eurozone

[polonieth]

Bulgaria has officially received the green light to adopt the euro on January 1, 2026, according to the latest ECB Convergence Report (2025).

"This favorable assessment reflects Bulgaria’s strong commitment to the required reforms,”
, Philip R. Lane, ECB Executive Board member

The ECB and European Commission concluded that Bulgaria now meets all convergence criteria:

• Inflation: 2.7% (below 2.8% threshold)
• Budget deficit: 3.0% of GDP (meets the limit)
• Public debt: 24.1% of GDP (way under 60% limit)
• Interest rates: Averaged 3.9% (under 5.1% threshold)
• Currency: Stable in ERM II since 2023, fixed rate maintained
• Legal alignment: Bulgarian laws now comply with EU treaties

Cooking the books of course, but Bulgaria is in good shape regarding debt to GDP ratio due to the currency board. The Eurozone means that it goes, so it is open season for politicians lining their pockets.

I hope Bulgarians resoundingly reject this; it's worthy of a revolution. The Eurozone is like the Hotel California, you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. It will be a disaster for the country. Sad to see, to be honest, as it's a great place.

 

[Aetherial]

We've seen what happened to Croatia, life became way more expensive. I wish them good luck.

 

[marioIT]

R.I.P. , not going to be a cheap and reasonably free country anymore european entrepreneurs will have to move further east to find cheap countries to run and grow their businesses...
there are still ways to make money even on news like this, but ultimately it destroys any advantages it had till now.

 

[Alonzo]

Bulgarians have no clue that life will be a lot more expensive with the euro currency…

 

[polonieth]

Bulgarians have no clue that life will be a lot more expensive with the euro currency…

Oh they do, the majority of the population are against it. Which is why they want a referendum.

Yet the govenrment thinks that a referendum is "unconstituional"

Like I say, it needs a revolution.

 

[Alonzo]

Oh they do, the majority of the population are against it. Which is why they want a referendum.

I thought most of them were europhiles… let’s hope that the citizens have a say otherwise Romania will be left being the cheapest and low tax EU country

 

[polonieth]

You would get that impression from Reddit for sure. The European Union is popular amongst the Sofia IT crowd, which mainly consists of quad-vaxxed 20s and 30s men who spend their days coding and wanking themselves into oblivion via their favourite OnlyFans girls. They buy most state-led propaganda due to testosterone deficiency

But amongst the working people, they don't want the Euro.

 

[AtlasShrugged]

Romania will be left being the cheapest and low tax EU country

Certainly the cheapest, but it's not a low tax country any longer. The government there change the tax codes every single year, and not for the better obviously.

 

[Steve3000]

I thought most of them were europhiles… let’s hope that the citizens have a say otherwise Romania will be left being the cheapest and low tax EU country

I have to admit that I've never visited Romania or Bulgaria, but I know Poland well. Is Poland considered expensive among the eastern countries? They don't have the euro and their economy seems to be doing well. Although it's become far more expensive now!

 

[jesuschrist]

Bulgarians have no clue that life will be a lot more expensive with the euro currency…

Oh they do, the majority of the population are against it. Which is why they want a referendum.

The Bulgarian Lev is fixed for like 30 years, first to Deutsche Mark then to Euro, the country has no monetary policy since forever now.
This is not another Greece or Croatia, this will literally change nothing for them...

 

[polonieth]

The Bulgarian Lev is fixed for like 30 years, first to Deutsche Mark then to Euro, the country has no monetary policy since forever now.
This is not another Greece or Croatia, this will literally change nothing for them...

Completely wrong, and as usual, it ignores the role of the currency board.

Bulgaria can only issue as much money as it has in foreign currency reserves. That acts as a strict limit on the amount of debt the government can take on. Any new borrowing adds to the money supply, so the board forces discipline.

That’s precisely why Bulgaria has one of the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios in the EU today.

But if they adopt the euro, those limits disappear. With the euro, the government can borrow far more, as long as it can manage the repayments, at least in the short term. Where that borrowed money goes is up to the government. Banks are usually happy to lend because they know the ECB has stepped in to rescue them during every crisis so far.

But all that extra money entering the system without a matching increase in productivity leads to price inflation. And if most of the money is used inefficiently, the debt becomes harder to manage. Do you really think Bulgarian politicians are going to use this money productively? Or will it be stolen?

That’s how countries like Greece, Ireland, Spain, and Portugal ended up in crisis, with the ECB stepping in and austerity imposed from above.

 

[no1d]

In Romania we buy expensive items in Euros, cars, property etc. Most landlords also charge rent in euros. Adopting Euro will make their lives easier, transactions faster, and now that we are all in Schengen they wont have to change currency which is stupid.

 

[polonieth]

In Romania we buy expensive items in Euros, cars, property etc. Most landlords also charge rent in euros. Adopting Euro will make their lives easier, transactions faster, and now that we are all in Schengen they wont have to change currency which is stupid.

Why don't you ask some Croatians how much easier their lives got adopting the Euro...

Transactions faster? Give us some real world examples...

Schengen has nothing to do with changing currency, but how is this easier? Most people are using Wise, Revolut anyway. But changing money was never difficult in the first place.

These fringe benefits are never going to outweigh the negatives the Euro brings, and you have 5+ case studies of negative consequences of adopting it, most of which were in countries in better shape than Bulgaria.

I dunno how people can be so blind to the obvious. I guess it's a bit like that video clip in a car park somewhere, where all the NPCs are queuing for a dose of the gene therapy. One guy walks out and instantly collapses and needs to be taken away in an ambulance. However, everyone remains in the queue as normal, awaiting instructions on what to do next.

You have a trail of destruction in these other countries, with their citizens actively telling Bulgarians that taking the euro is a bad idea, and yet still get some people who are like "well the government told me it's a good idea and will make our lives easier, so I'm all for it" Yet they're lives have only got worse under the same people telling them it's a good idea lol.

 

[JosephLL]

Economics arguments are not needed here. You have NO soveregnity without the prerogative of money issuance. EU "states" are just another non-bank entities.

 

[HardRJones]

Unless Bulgaria’s economy matches that of those who set monetary policy for the Euro (effectively, Germany and France), adoption of a currency with a misaligned monetary policy will cause distortions in the Bulgarian economy that will cause stagnation and give incentive to increase national debt, as mentioned, just like it did for the PIIGS.

 

[polonieth]

Unless Bulgaria’s economy matches that of those who set monetary policy for the Euro (effectively, Germany and France), adoption of a currency with a misaligned monetary policy will cause distortions in the Bulgarian economy that will cause stagnation and give incentive to increase national debt, as mentioned, just like it did for the PIIGS.

Yup, the Euro = germany

And that is going really well: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ly driven,March, triggered by fiscal concerns.