''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.
The two largest trade unions in Bulgaria - the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria and the Confederation of Trade Unions "Podkrepa" - are organizing a warning protest in front of the Council of Ministers building. It is planned for..
In view of the country's declining population, the Fiscal Council recommends that the government take savings measures in the 2026 state budget. The measures include: reducing the municipal administration by merging municipalities;..
No disruptions or price increases are expected on Bulgaria’s fuel market following the US sanctions imposed on Russian oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil, Bulgarian Petroleum and Gas Association Chairman Svetoslav Benchev told BTA. "For now, I..
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