''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.
In 2024, 8.2% of people aged 18 or over who declared to be at work (either employed or self-employed) in the EU were at risk of poverty, according to data from Eurostat, cited by the BNR's Horizont channel. In Bulgaria, this share reached 11.8%. The..
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;..
In 2024, 8.2% of people aged 18 or over who declared to be at work (either employed or self-employed) in the EU were at risk of poverty, according to..
+359 2 9336 661