Bulgaria has officially adopted the euro, becoming the twenty-first European Union member state to use the single currency.
New euro banknotes and coins are now circulating in Bulgaria, and the Bulgarian National Bank has joined the Eurosystem — the European Central Bank’s (ECB) framework coordinating monetary policy across participating countries, the ECB said in a statement on January 1, 2026.
The move follows a formal decision in July which set the final conversion rate: 1.95583 Bulgarian lev to one euro.
Marking the occasion, the ECB’s headquarters in Frankfurt was illuminated on 1 January 2026 to symbolise unity among the 358 million Europeans now using the euro.
Expanded role for Bulgarian National Bank
With Bulgaria's entry, the Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank has taken a seat on the ECB's Governing Council, which sets interest rates and monetary policy for the euro area.
The Bulgarian National Bank has also become a full member of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, which oversees banks in the euro area to ensure their financial soundness, following a period of close cooperation starting in October 2020.
The ECB is now directly responsible for supervising four major banks and monitoring 17 smaller ones in Bulgaria.
Bulgarian financial institutions now have access to the Eurosystem’s TARGET services, which facilitate the flow of cash and securities across Europe.
These services include T2 for settling payments, T2S for securities, TIPS for instant payments, and ECMS for managing collateral.
From today, Bulgarian counterparties may participate in ECB open market operations, and assets located in Bulgaria that meet the requirements will be added to the euro area's list of eligible collateral.
The ECB also noted the implementation of a new system of rotating voting rights in its Governing Council as of 1 January 2026, following Bulgaria joining the euro area.
