The price increase is not due to the euro, but the high inflation simply coincided with the country's admission to the eurozone. This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Galab Donev at the opening of the conference “Building Resilience Together: Bulgaria's Membership in the ESM“ at “Grand Hotel Millennium Sofia“.
He explained that although the increase in inflation in our country coincided with the entry into the eurozone, objectively there is no way that the single currency can be blamed for this. The crisis in the Strait of Hormuz began in the same period, which had a serious impact. Since Bulgaria is an open economy and relies on imports, international shocks and variations directly affect the prices of all goods and services.
The Minister added that prices had already started to rise in the summer of the previous year due to the increase in the price of electricity and fuels. As another serious problem, he pointed to the disrupted supply chains in the Black Sea region. Donev gave as an example the record wheat harvest, which cannot be exported due to the situation in the Black Sea and the low levels of the Danube River, which also fuels inflation. Currently, our country ranks third in terms of inflation growth in the eurozone.
The government is taking a number of measures to contain prices, supporting producers along the chain and assisting vulnerable groups in society due to the increase in fuel prices.
However, the Finance Minister emphasized that there is no way to completely prevent the increase, since it is not known what a possible further escalation of international conflicts will lead to. He summarized that the percentage increase in fuel prices in Bulgaria remains among the lowest in the European Union.