The lev is the currency of Bulgaria. It is divided into 100 stotinki (стотинки). In archaic Bulgarian, the word “lev” meant “lion”.
The lev was introduced as Bulgaria’s currency in 1881, and have been the official currency ever since, during almost 140 years period, the Lev has passed by fourth stages, been paired with the French Franc at the beginning, later to the dollar and during the last 20 years pegged first to the German Mark and after to the Euro at an exchange rate of 1.95583 leva = 1 euro.
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Bulgaria and the EURO
Is expected that Bulgaria will become part of the Euro Area, the monetary union of 19 of the 28 European Union (EU) member states which have adopted the euro (€) as their common currency and sole legal tender. Political and formal steps have been taken by the current government in that direction.
Bulgaria is set to be the next adopter of the European single currency.
Having formally started the Exchange Rate Mechanism 2 (ERM 2) process — seen as the eurozone “waiting room”.
On 30 April 2020, Bulgaria officially submitted documents to the European Central Bank to apply to join ERM II, the first step to introduce the euro. On 12 May 2020, European Commission executive vice president Valdis Dombrovskis stated that Bulgaria could join ERM II together with Croatia in July 2020. Bulgaria officially joined the ERM II on 10 July 2020.
Public opinion is divided about Bulgaria becoming part of the Eurozone, the main argument against Bulgaria entering the eurozone is that inevitably will be an increase in the prices in the country.
On the other side, the argument pro-adoption of the Euro in Bulgaria is that will lead to a lowering in the interest rates in the country, and lower transaction fees in the international trade.
