January 4 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's central bank will spend 109.7 million levs ($59.6 million\ 56.1 million levs) this year on preparations for the introduction of the euro on January 1, 2024, it said.
The amount includes expenditure for maintenance of monetary circulation, personnel, equipment, hired services and fees for participation in the European Central Bank (ECB) and other EU financial institutions, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said in its budget for 2023 published at the end of December.
The BNB's overall expenses were increased by an annual 88.5% to 265.7 million levs. The expenses for minting new coins in 2023 jumped by an annual 402% to 108.6 million levs, including 89.8 million levs for production of Bulgarian euro coins worth 780 million euro.
Investment expenditure was approved at some 97.5 million levs, or 231% more than in 2022. Preparations for euro adoption, including IT systems upgrades, construction and refurbishment, new equipment and devices, will absorb 52.7 million levs of the planned investment.
Last month, BNB signed an initial agreement paving the way for the start of euro coin production once Bulgaria is cleared for euro zone membership.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)