BULGARIA IS NOT READY FOR EUROZONE DEFINITELY: ECONOMIST

Bulgaria is not ready for the eurozone definitely, economist Kaloyan Stoykov with the Institute for Market Economics told FOCUS Radio.

In order to join the eurozone, first we have to spend two years in the exchange rate mechanism under the supervision of the European Central Bank and European Commission to show we meet the same criteria, he added.

The ERM II entry is an absolutely political decision. There are no requirements and criteria for letting a country in it. So when the other member states decide Bulgaria is ready to join the ERM II, we will enter. However, there are no concrete criteria we have to satisfy in order to enter, said the economist.
Right now it is difficult to say what the advantages of Bulgaria's joining the eurozone will be, if there are any at all. This is not the case with the disadvantages, he noted.

In the past few years the eurozone has changed significantly in comparison with the time when Bulgaria acceded to the EU and it seems the disadvantages have become more. First, this is the contribution to the European bailout funds, which is calculated on the basis of the 50% of population and 50% of GDP, but it does not take into account the debt level of a country and Bulgaria's is comparatively low, commented the economist.