Bulgaria on path to adopt euro in 2023 -IMF's Georgieva

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26/01/2020 11:21

SOFIA, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's plans to enter the
eurozone's waiting room this spring and adopt the euro currency
in 2023 are "completely foreseeable", the head of the
International Monetary Fund said on Sunday.
    The Balkan country, a European Union member since 2007,
hopes to join the precursor to eurozone membership, the ERM-2
exchange rate mechanism, by the end of April and adopt the euro
in 2023.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N27F7P3
    "My expectations are that the plans for Bulgaria's eurozone
entry will happen exactly as made," IMF head Kristalina
Georgieva told national BNR radio. 
    "Of course one should not say 'hop' until one jumped, but
things are looking very good," she said. 
    Georgieva said the European Central Bank President Christine
Lagarde "sees very positively" Bulgaria's push for eurozone
entry and told her at the World Economic Forum in Davos that "it
seems Bulgarian would soon be spoken in my hall where eurozone
meetings take place".
    Georgieva, who is of Bulgarian origin, said eurozone entry
will be beneficial for the country and provide more monetary
security and shield it from global uncertainty.
    Bulgaria, whose lev currency is already pegged to the euro,
meets the nominal criteria to adopt the single currency, with
healthy public finances and low debt, but is also one of the
EU's poorest and most corrupt member states.
    A comprehensive assessment at six Bulgarian lenders by the
ECB last year found capital shortfalls at two locally owned
banks, but both First Investment Bank  5F4.BB  and Investbank
has since announced plans to raise their capital.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N28W08E
    "Bulgaria as a whole stands very well. There are two banks
that had some issues but they are working on them and I do not
see any problems," Georgieva said.

 (Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova, Editing by William Maclean)
 ((tsvetelia.tsolova@thomsonreuters.com; +359-2-93-99-731;))