Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Business suffers severe damage from Bulgaria's delayed membership in the Eurozone and Schengen

Bulgaria's Minister of Finance Assen Vassilev
Photo: BGNES-archive

''The loss from Bulgaria's delayed membership in the Eurozone and Schengen is between 4% and 5% of the country's GDP'', Bulgaria’s Minister of Finance Assen Vassilev said in an interview for Nova TV. ''The business loses between EUR 250 million and EUR 500 million just from currency conversion. Separately, delaying eurozone membership leads to higher interest rates and less investment'', Minister Vassilev said. 

The losses stemming from Bulgaria’s delayed membership in Schengen are also huge, Minister Vassilev said with regard to the government’s draft decree, according to which Bulgaria should include in an official document the date January 1, 2025, as a target date for adopting the euro. Assen Vassilev said that this act is necessary, because the caretaker cabinet had not written down the date January 1, 2024, as the target date for Eurozone membership, and because it had drafted a budget with a 6.4% deficit.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

NSI: Bulgaria Records Second Consecutive Month of Deflation

According to data from the National Statistical Institute, Bulgaria experienced a monthly inflation rate of -0.2% in May 2024 . Year-on-year inflation from May 2024 compared to December 2023 stands at 0.4%, while the average annual inflation rate for the..

published on 6/14/24 4:55 PM

Businesses expect the authorities to streamline the process of importing of foreign workers

The demographic crisis in this country is advancing at a rapid rate, holding back the development of businesses, but this is a tendency observed in other countries as well. Because of their good qualifications, Bulgarian workers find work in many..

updated on 6/14/24 12:03 PM

The World Bank lowers Bulgaria's GDP growth forecast by 0.3%

The World Bank predicts a more moderate improvement in Bulgaria's economic growth in 2024 and 2025. In its latest report "Global Economic Prospects" the institution expects a slight acceleration in Bulgaria's GDP growth from 1.8% in 2023 to 2.1% in..

published on 6/12/24 10:48 AM