BNB: Close to 95% of leva banknotes and coins exchanged for euro

As of June 30 2026, about 94.48 per cent of the leva banknotes and coins that had been in circulation at the beginning of 2025 had been exchanged for euro, Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said on July 1.

Bulgaria adopted the euro as its currency on January 1 2026, and up to June 30, commercial banks were obliged to exchange leva notes and coins for euro for the public and businesses free of charge.

BNB said that by the end of June 30, a total of 29.4 billion leva had been exchanged for euro, while at the same time, 1.7 billion leva in banknotes and coins remained outside its vaults.

It said that the process of exchanging leva for the euro proceeded smoothly, organised in accordance with the established regulatory framework, without any difficulties in serving the public, businesses and the financial system.

As of June 30= 2026, the total value of euro banknotes and coins in circulation (net issue) is 8.8 billion euro with this volume ensuring the normal functioning of cash circulation and the effective servicing of the economy and the population, BNB said.

After the six-month period, banks have the right to set and charge fees when exchanging leva into euro.

According to the current regulations, they are obliged to notify the BNB of the amount of the fees applied, and the BNB has no authority to intervene in these decisions.

BNB reminded all individuals and legal entities that the exchange of leva into euro will continue indefinitely at the BNB cash desks. No fees are charged for these operations and they remain completely free of charge, it said.