The Bulgarian National Bank will stay the course with its conservative and stability-oriented monetary policy even after the country enters the eurozone. In an interview with Politico, BNB Governor Dimitar Radev confirmed that Bulgaria will continue to prioritize resilience, cohesion, and price stability. “I lead one of the more conservative central banks, and we have no intention of changing this course,” Radev stated, as quoted by the BNB’s official communication.

According to the governor, the country's future eurozone membership will not mark a departure from its longstanding fiscal discipline. Despite the wider access to capital markets that comes with joining the euro area, Bulgaria’s approach to borrowing will remain cautious. Radev stressed that the convergence process should serve to reinforce - not dilute - Bulgaria’s established commitment to sound fiscal policy.

He pointed to lessons from previous eurozone enlargements, which often saw rapid economic growth in new members followed by recession. In Radev’s view, this pattern stems from the European Central Bank’s uniform interest rate policy, which tends to favor high-debt, slower-growth countries in Western Europe, while often being too loose for smaller, fast-growing economies with low debt - like those typically entering the eurozone. Greece stands as the most prominent example, but other former communist countries with underdeveloped financial systems and looser regulatory traditions have also faced post-accession economic shocks.

Despite these historical concerns, Radev dismissed fears that Bulgaria might follow the same trajectory. He noted that while access to cheaper credit and international markets will improve, this won’t translate into reckless spending. The key, he argued, lies in maintaining national discipline within the broader eurozone framework. "The challenge is not whether we can borrow more, but whether we use debt prudently and for growth,” Radev underlined.

He also highlighted that Bulgaria understands the implications of adopting a shared monetary policy, one shaped by the needs of the entire eurozone. To mitigate potential mismatches, he called for stronger domestic fiscal and structural policies that can support sustainable development within the constraints of the common monetary regime.

Last week, both the European Commission and the European Central Bank confirmed that Bulgaria meets the necessary criteria to adopt the euro. This clears the way for the country to become the 21st member of the eurozone on January 1, 2026. It’s a major milestone for Bulgaria, a country of 6.4 million that pledged to adopt the euro back in 2007 but saw its path delayed repeatedly - most recently due to inflationary pressures from the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.