Ekaterina Zaharieva: Bulgaria in Eurozone to boost investor confidence
09 April 2019 News
‘Bulgaria’s joining the Eurozone will boost investor confidence and will help increase investments in this country. It’s not accidental that this is one of the key priorities of the government, which in August 2018 drew up a clear plan that hopefully will secure in June of this year a positive response for our application to join the so-called ‘waiting room’, or ERM II mechanism.’ These is what Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva said at the traditional annual meeting of the Bulgarian Business Leaders’ Forum (BBLF) with ambassadors.
The event, which gathered together captains of industry, diplomats and high ranking members of the executive branch, took place under the motto ‘Bulgaria and the Eurozone’. The discussions focused on the advantages of Bulgaria’s joining the Eurozone - both for this country and for its foreign partners. Ambassadors and senior diplomats from over 40 countries took part in the event. The Italian Ambassador, Stefano Baldi, was a special partner to the event.
‘I salute this meeting, organized by the Bulgarian Business Leaders’ Forum, and I believe it is taking place at just the right moment. There has been a lot of speculation in the public domain about the adoption of the Euro: that this move would cause prices to jump and fuel inflation, whereas projections show the exact opposite effect,’ Minister Zaharieva pointed out. She went on to say that according to European Central Bank data, the average inflation in the Eurozone countries is just 1.7%, while in the 1970s and 80s it could get as high as 20 percent. According to the same data, inflation in the last 5 countries to have joined the Eurozone is between 0.2 and 0.6 percent.
At a time when the question of the future of Europe is raised with great urgency, confidence in the EU is very high, and among Bulgarians, it is even higher that the average for Europe: 53 percent. She referred to data showing that confidence in the Euro among the citizens of Europe is higher than their confidence in the institutions and may reach as high as 74 percent, making the European currency one of the strongest integration models.
‘I firmly believe that joining the Eurozone as quickly as possible is the right choice for us. I thank the Bulgarian business community for its support, and also the diplomatic corps, which has always stood by the aspirations of the Bulgarian government for greater integration,’ said the Minister. She then wished the participants in the forum a fruitful discussion.
In his statement, the head of the Offices of the European Commission in Bulgaria Ognyan Zlatev underscored the global role of the Euro and the advantages that Bulgaria stands to gain by adopting the European currency. ‘The Eurozone is a good place for Bulgaria to be,’ was also the opinion of Maxim Behar, the moderator of the discussion and member of the Board of the Bulgarian Business Leaders’ Forum. He pointed out that the European Parliament election campaign is a good time for discussing the benefits Bulgaria could have from adopting the European currency.