Economists and financiers have started a petition demanding that a request for an extraordinary convergence report on the introduction of the euro in Bulgaria be submitted no later than February. "If urgent action is not taken by the government for Bulgaria’s entry into the Eurozone, the risk of a new wave of social demands and political demagoguery will escalate, leading to a weakening of fiscal and financial discipline", the authors warn.

• Bulgaria to request euro area convergence report once criteria are met

• 57% of Bulgarians are against the adoption of the euro in principle, 39% are for: survey

According to them, delaying the request for such a report will postpone the introduction of the single currency in Bulgaria indefinitely. "With this unprincipled decision, citizens, companies and investors in Bulgaria will be unjustifiably exposed to a number of explicit and implicit risks. It may also lead to a political decision to abandon the fixed exchange rate of the lev to the euro, which would suspend the functioning of the currency board and existentially threaten the stability of the monetary, financial and social system", the economists point out.

According to a survey by the sociological agency "Myara" from January, 57.1% of Bulgarians are against the adoption of the euro in principle.