Bulgaria is now on the path to joining the Eurozone, with January 1, 2026, being the target date for its entry, according to an analysis from the Institute for Market Economics (IME). This follows recent Eurostat data on December's inflation figures, which show that Bulgaria is meeting the inflation criterion set out in the Maastricht Treaty for euro adoption.

As of December 2024, Bulgaria's average annual inflation stood at 2.6%. For comparison, Lithuania, Finland, and Italy had inflation rates of 0.9%, 1.0%, and 1.1%, respectively, as reported by Eurostat. Based on these figures, Peter Ganev from IME concluded that Bulgaria’s inflation is well within the target range set by the Maastricht criteria. According to the treaty, the inflation criterion is calculated using the average inflation rate of the three EU countries with the lowest inflation. Adding 1.5 percentage points to this average sets the threshold at 2.5%. With Bulgaria's inflation at 2.6%, the deviation from the target is just 0.1%.

Finance Minister Temenuzhka Petkova emphasized that Bulgaria must seize this opportunity to join the Eurozone, calling it an important priority for the government. Former institution head Lyudmila Petkova, who remains as Deputy Minister, confirmed that the government plans to submit requests for extraordinary convergence reports to Brussels and Frankfurt by the end of January 2025. This is part of the process that ensures Bulgaria meets all criteria for euro adoption.

In line with parliamentary procedures, a request for extraordinary assessments is expected to be made within two weeks of the formal implementation of all necessary euro area membership criteria. The projected date for Bulgaria’s official adoption of the euro is January 1, 2026, marking a significant milestone in the country’s integration into the eurozone.

Source: IME