It is a great honour for me to be here with you today and welcome you to the Conference ‘Bulgarian Tourism and Bulgaria’s Accession to the Euro Area’.
The topic of my address to you focuses on what Bulgaria’s entry into the euro area means for tourism and for the Bulgarian economy as a whole.
First of all, the stability of the Bulgarian lev resulting from the currency board that has been in place since 1997, was a key factor that helped pave the way for Bulgaria’s integration into the European Union. Bulgaria’s integration into the euro area is undoubtedly a crucial event in our economic history. Bulgaria is about to join the selected group of EU member states that have introduced the single currency. The euro itself not only serves over 300 million people in the EU, but it is also a major international currency and a reserve unit for the rest of the world.
The Bulgarian National Bank will play a crucial role in ensuring appropriate economic conditions but in a different context, through Bulgaria’s entry into the euro area. In this way, the BNB as a regulator will be able to much more actively participate in maintaining price stability in the euro area as a whole, which is an important prerequisite for reaching our potential for a stable and sustainable economic growth.
By completing its integration into the common European market, namely by introducing the euro, Bulgaria will be granted wider opportunities for further development and growth. However, these opportunities come with important new challenges, and it is up to us to face them and take full advantage of the presented opportunities to improve the well-being of society.
The adoption of the euro as a national currency will be a historic moment in Bulgaria’s economic history. We are faced with the choice to work together for a better future not only for us, but also for the next generations. Bulgaria’s integration into the euro area means that the monetary policy in Bulgaria will be identical to that of all other countries sharing the common currency. This would even further increase the importance of the sound fiscal policy for maintaining economic stability. The scale of success, on the other hand, always depends on our choice. The opportunities that the adoption of the euro offers us must be exploited to the full.
A serious factor for success will be the good communication strategy regarding the adoption of the euro, based on the mutual efforts of the public and private sectors, which will ensure a strong public support so that the positive expectations of society are satisfied.
We should also make an analysis of the way that the Bulgarian tourism has come since the severe COVID 2020 until today. In 2020, a total of EUR 1 471.1 million was credited on the payment account from foreign persons’ trips to the Republic of Bulgaria. In 2024, this figure rose to EUR 3 985.1 million or 1.7 times more! For 2024, out of the EUR 3985.1 million in revenue generated for the Bulgarian tourism, EUR 1957 came from residents of other EU member states. To put it differently, the citizens of other EU member states contribute 49.1% of the total revenues from trips by foreign persons, and this means that the Bulgarian tourism is already in the euro area. I should make a special mention of the fact that 75.2% of the trips by persons from other member states are private, while 24.8% are business trips, which also accentuates the competitiveness of the Bulgarian tourist product and its attractiveness. This is evidenced by the geometric mean growth rate of revenues from visits by foreign persons to the Republic of Bulgaria, which for the period 2020 – 2024 was 28.3% per year!
In accordance with the BNB’s mandate, the Bank supports the creation and functioning of efficient payment systems. Over recent years, in the context of building, upgrading and adapting the payment infrastructure to payments in euro, the BNB has supported and participated in a number of projects, jointly with BORICA AD, the Ministry of Finance and the business. Some of these are a project for the migration of budget payments in BGN to SEPA standards, ensuring full SEPA reachability for the banks participating in BISERA through the BNB’s direct participation in the STEP2 payment system, and joining the TIPS system for instant payments in euro, which would lead to fast and secure payments for businesses and people.
Thank you for your attention!