Bulgaria officially adopts euro, becomes 21st euro area member
Bulgaria officially introduced the euro today, becoming the 21st European Union Member State to use the single European currency. The Bulgarian National Bank simultaneously joined the Eurosystem and the Single Supervisory Mechanism.
"I warmly welcome Bulgaria to the euro family and Governor Radev to the ECB Governing Council table in Frankfurt. The euro is a powerful symbol of what Europe can achieve when we work together, and of the shared values and collective strength that we can leverage to confront the global geopolitical uncertainty that we face at the moment."
— Christine Lagarde, ECB President
Bulgaria joins the euro family
Bulgaria officially adopted the euro today, becoming the 21st European Union Member State to use the single currency. The official conversion rate is 1.95583 Bulgarian lev per 1 euro. ECB President Christine Lagarde welcomed Bulgaria and Governor Radev to the ECB Governing Council, highlighting the euro as a symbol of European unity. The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) now joins the Eurosystem and gains a seat on the Governing Council. Additionally, the BNB becomes a full member of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, following a period of close cooperation since October 2020.
Integrating markets and supervision
With Bulgaria's entry, the ECB now directly supervises four significant institutions and oversees 17 less significant institutions in the country. The Bulgarian National Bank has fulfilled its capital contribution to the ECB and transferred its share of foreign reserve assets. Bulgarian counterparties can now participate in ECB open market operations. Furthermore, the Bulgarian market has joined the Eurosystem’s TARGET services, including T2 for payments, T2S for securities, TIPS for instant payments, and ECMS for collateral management. The new system of rotating voting rights also comes into force in the ECB’s Governing Council as of today.
Key Facts
| New euro area member | Bulgaria (21st) |
| Official conversion rate | 1.95583 BGN/EUR |
| ECB directly supervises | 4 significant institutions |