17th day since the introduction of the euro in our country - over half of the leva have already been withdrawn from circulation. The data is from the Bulgarian National Bank, according to which 58% of the available leva banknotes and coins have currently been exchanged.
At the same time, 4.3 billion euros have already been put into circulation - an amount that, according to the Central Bank, is completely sufficient for the financial system in the country to function normally.
Today, in front of the BNB building, there are people who have come to exchange their remaining leva for euros. It is impressive that the queues are shorter compared to the previous Saturday – a sign that the exchange process is progressing.
“I work in a grocery store and I have a lot of coins that I have nowhere to use“, said one of the waiting people. Others said that they prefer to exchange their money now, instead of waiting for the last days of January, even though the lev and the euro are still used in parallel until the end of the month.
People report that there are no counting fees, and the waiting time is about an hour. An ID card is required for the exchange, and the conditions are the same for both bank customers and people without an account at the respective institution. A declaration is required only for amounts over 5,000 euros.
The BNB reminds that some commercial banks also work on Saturdays until the end of the month, in order to facilitate the currency exchange process for citizens.