In a push to ease these concerns, Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde each stressed the geopolitical benefits of joining the euro.
“Bulgaria is joining the euro … at a point when there is more volatility, at a time when we have more shocks, one after the other, compounded, and at a time where the global order, as we have known it, is more fragmented, and when friends are probably fewer,” said Lagarde, adding: “It’s important to close ranks and to be together.”
Lagarde said that during the financial crisis, the single currency had proved a defensive shield against shocks and depreciation.
Dombrovkis said that, in itself, the adoption of the euro could help Bulgaria compensate for growing geopolitical risks in investors’ eyes.
“In Baltic countries, despite being geopolitically exposed, the borrowing costs were lower than in Poland, and to a large extent investors assessed that [the euro] is a stabilizing factor,” he said.
Bulgaria’s accession to the euro has been planned for more than a decade, but as the date got nearer, it has spawned conspiracy theories and populist politics, alongside more justified concerns about the currency changeover.