Bulgaria’s central bank approves designs of country’s future euro coins

Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) has completed the process of coordinating and approving the design of the Bulgarian euro coins, the central bank said on February 12.

This was the next important step taken by BNB in preparing for Bulgaria’s full membership of the euro zone, after Bulgaria’s National Assembly approved the second reading on February 1 of a bill amending the Bulgarian National Bank Act in preparation of the country joining the euro area.

The design reproduces the current symbols minted on Bulgarian exchange coins (the Madara Horseman on 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 euro cent coins; St John of Rila on the 1 euro coin; and Paisiy Hilendarski on the 2 euro coin ).

Upcoming include production of euro coins with the Bulgarian national side in an amount of up to a million pieces for each denomination for testing the quality of the produced coins and certification of the Bulgarian Mint.

Regular production of the necessary quantities of euro coins will start after the Council of the EU decides to approve the adoption of the euro by Bulgaria.

Issuance of the coins will start from the date of the acceptance of the euro as legal tender in Bulgaria, the BNB statement said.

Recent governments have made joining the euro zone a priority policy area, initially hoping to adopt the euro in January 2024, but high inflation over the past year and a half and other legal issues have pushed back the prospective date of euro adoption.

January 2025 is seen as the earliest possible date now, provided the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers agree to be lenient in applying the inflation criterion, the same way they did when Croatia adopted the euro in 2023.

A decision regarding Bulgaria’s accession to the euro area is expected later this year.

(Photos via the website of BNB)

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