EXPERT: BULGARIA LAGS BEHIND ROMANIA ON ROAD TO EUROZONE ACCESSION

Professor Tatyana Hubenova from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAN) said that the country is considerably lagging behind Romania on the road of accession to the Eurozone.

According to her, the accession to the Eurozone will guarantee better banking supervision and financial stability, daily Sega reports.

Hubenova pointed to the Romanian central bank's focus on financial education in the time of crisis and preparation of the country for adoption of the euro.

In her words, Romania was already undergoing stages of greater harmonisation with the requirements for accession to the European Banking Union.

Hubenova added that Romania was also performing well in terms of monetary stability and financial literacy.

Romania set out a goal to accede to the Eurozone in 2020.

The Bulgarian government already expressed a wish for the country to enter the "waiting room" of the Eurozone.

Several years ago, Bulgaria was fulfilling the technical criteria for accession to the Eurozone - government budget deficit below 3 %, inflation below 2 % and government debt-to-GDP ratio below 60 %.

However the EU has additional requirements for Bulgaria, including the financial education.

As regards the technical criteria, Bulgaria is currently not fulfilling the government budget deficit criterion, which exceeds 3 %.