Bulgaria will meet the price stability criterion for joining the eurozone without requiring subjective calculations, the Institute for Market Economics believes, referring to inflation data in recent months.
After the positive assessment of the medium-term fiscal program and the official data for a deficit of 3% of GDP in 2024, our country should expect a positive assessment from the convergence report, experts say, reports the Bulgarian National Radio.
Official inflation data in recent months show that Bulgaria meets the price stability criterion. According to an analysis by the Institute for Market Economics, the average annual inflation in the country remained at 2.7% in April and is within the upper limit of the criterion of 2.8%. This means that our country will meet the price stability criterion without the need to exclude countries from the calculation and make subjective assessments, the analysis claims.
Therefore, economists expect a positive answer in the report from early June, with a date for adopting the euro of January 1, 2026.
The financial rules of the eurozone and maintaining financial discipline may prove to be the problem for Bulgaria after adopting the European currency, warned Petar Ganev:
"The forecast is that if we continue with the plan we have at the moment, with this deficit, with this medium-term fiscal-structural debt plan, which goes to 45-50% by 2038, potential tax increases, already planned increases in social security contributions, we will have to preserve the stability of finances and the tax system".