Less than a week remains until the change of the official currency in our country. On January 1, our bank accounts will be automatically converted - without fees, at the fixed rate. Neither the interest nor the installments on loans withdrawn until the end of 2025 will change in value.
„When we have a loan with a fixed interest rate, it will remain. When we have a loan with a variable interest rate, it is tied to a benchmark or indices before the date of the introduction of the euro”, explained to Nova TV the General Secretary of the Association of Banks in Bulgaria James Yolovski.
„In January, people can make the same payment in euros. For February, they should find out if there is any change”, added financial consultant Deyan Vassilev.
It is desirable to make payments in December by the 30th of this month, and for those with maturities in the days around New Year, experts advise checking whether there will be enough funds in the account after the money is exchanged for euros.
„If 300 euros need to be repaid, and there are 295 in the account - the bank withdraws 295 and 5 euros remain as unpaid principal. I advise people to deposit enough cash by December 30th,” Vassilev said.
From January 1st, all withdrawals from banks and ATMs, transfers and online payments will be made in euros, and the option for levs will remain only for cash payments in retail outlets.
„In Croatia, some of the ATMs worked with the national currency, others were pre-loaded with euros, and on New Year's Eve there was a switch. However, in our country, the ATMs will be loaded - two of their cassettes with euros, and the other two - with levs. This will allow us to withdraw levs if necessary until the last hours of December 31st, and to receive euros from the first hours of January 1st,”, said Yolovski.
So in a week all our bank accounts – savings, current and deposit accounts, along with the savings in them, will be converted to euros, but their IBAN will remain unchanged.