For Bulgaria, joining the euro area is not a question of if, but when. This opinion was expressed by the Governor of the National Bank of Bulgaria (BNB), Dimitar Radev, at a conference in Sofia entitled "Bulgaria's European Path - Accession to the Euro Area, Benefits and Challenges for Businesses", organised by the Ministry of Finance. The forum was attended by Paschal Donohoe, President of the Eurogroup, who is visiting Bulgaria. 

Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) and the Bulgarian banking sector are to a large extent already part of the working mechanisms of the euro area, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said, noting that Bulgaria is the only country in the EU that is a member of the EU Banking Union, a key institution of the euro area, without being a member of the euro zone itself. For more than a quarter of a century, he said, the country has maintained a very disciplined fiscal policy and the result is obvious - Bulgaria has the second lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in the EU. "If we continue along this path, the euro area will gain another voice of common sense in solving fiscal problems," Dimitar Radev said.