Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 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

Is raising taxes inevitable if we want to fix the budget?

At the end of September, with a little over three months to go until the Rubicon in Bulgarian public finance - 1 January, 2026, when the country will officially leave the currency board and adopt the single European currency, the euro – issues..

updated on 9/26/25 1:02 PM

Rosen Zhelyazkov: Bulgaria is among the most dynamic and promising economies in Southeastern Europe

Bulgaria is among the most dynamic and promising economies in Southeastern Europe, said Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov. He participated in a luncheon roundtable discussion in New York organized by the Delphi Economic Forum and the Business Council..

published on 9/26/25 11:15 AM

International Technical Fair 2025 kicks off in Plovdiv

Plovdiv is hosting the 79th International Technical Fair from September 24 to 27, 2025 , bringing together leading companies, innovators, and industry professionals. The Forum highlights technological advancement and sustainable development across key..

published on 9/24/25 8:55 AM