"Bulgaria can adopt the euro in 2025 and the work is aimed at curbing inflation, which is extremely important to be done in 2024. The Bulgarian government can decide whether to ask for a further assessment, " Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe said Friday at the Council of Ministers after a meeting with outgoing Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov, outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Mariya Gabriel and outgoing Finance Minister Assen Vassilev.
According to EU treaties, the Bulgarian government will decide whether to request a further assessment of economic indicators regarding the adoption of the euro, Donohoe said. He noted that for the time being all energy should be committed and concentrated on Bulgaria passing the tests and this is part of the regular assessment that will be done later in 2024.
The Eurogroup President stressed that for him the question is not if Bulgaria will join the euro area but when. Bulgaria's work is now ramping up as far as curbing inflation is concerned, which is obviously in the best interest of the people in the country, Donohoe stressed.
Denkov noted that Donohoe is a politician with vast experience, a minister in Irish governments for more than 10 years, currently the minister for public spending, the national development plan and reforms in Ireland. For this reason, besides the euro area issue, what the two officials discussed was Ireland's experience after adopting the euro.
Ireland is a remarkable country in this respect because, starting from very low levels - the poorest country in the EU at the time, in a very short period of time, thanks to the right policy - attracting investment, taking advantage of the opportunities provided by the EU and the euro, it is now one of the most developed countries in the EU, Denkov said.
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