Dimitar Radev, BNB: Let's focus on what needs to be done for the eurozone, not the date

I don't think it is very productive to focus now on the date of entry into the Eurozone. Rather, the focus should be on what needs to be done. This was stated by the Governor of the BNB, Dimitar Radev, before the BNR.

A few days ago, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov stated that Bulgaria is negotiating the inflation indicator, before the adoption of the euro, to be evaluated later in the year. He added that the date of January 1, 2025 for our entry into the Eurozone is not "sacred".

The governor of the BNB also said that if Bulgaria wants to change the date on which it wants to enter the Eurozone, from January 1, 2025 to another, it must negotiate with its European partners. According to Dimitar Radev, the indicative date remains the beginning of next year.

"It should be borne in mind that this is a decision that does not depend only on us. It depends on our partners with whom we discuss the issues of Bulgarian membership. In addition, it should be borne in mind that the plan for the adoption of the euro, which was accepted, it was actually prepared on the basis of a target date of January 1, 2025," commented Dimitar Radev.

"Everything depends on the results, that is, the data that we expect to come in for January, February, March. In addition, it should be borne in mind that we are looking at a complex of indicators, that is, we are not only looking at the growth of mortgages, but we are looking at many other things, for example how such a measure will affect the economy, economic activity in general. This decision will be taken very carefully and it will be taken on the basis of the incoming data," the BNB governor also said.

Dimitar Radev noted that there could be a possible tightening of lending to households after analyzing the data for the first quarter of this year. According to him, such measures will be approached very carefully.