Overview
- The lev has been replaced at a fixed rate of 1.95583 per euro, with dual pricing and threatened fines to deter abusive rounding during the transition.
- The switch comes after the government's December resignation and without a 2026 state budget, with new elections widely expected.
- ECB President Christine Lagarde and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the accession, with the ECB estimating small and mid-sized firms could save about one billion leva annually on currency costs.
- Surveys show roughly half the public fears price increases, while the ECB notes past euro adoptions typically added only about 0.2 to 0.4 percentage points to inflation temporarily.
- Bulgaria now sends its central bank chief, Dimitar Radev, to the ECB Governing Council, consolidating its role in euro-area policymaking.