The history of the BULGARIAN LEV

Eolution of the Bulgarian currency from 1881 to nodays

First lev (1881–1952) The lev was introduced as 1881 Bulgaria's currency in 1881 with a value equal to the French franc.

Second lev (1952–1962) Following wartime inflation, a new lev replaced the original lev at a rate of 1 "new" lev = 100 "old" 1952 leva. The new lev was pegged to the U.S. dollar at a rate of 6.8 leva = 1 dollar, falling to 9.52 leva on July 29, 1957.

Third lev (1962–1999) During the period, until 1989 the lev was backed by gold, and the 1962 banknotes have the text stating: "The bank note is backed by gold and all assets of the bank"

Fourth lev (1999–present) On 5 July 1999 the lev was redenominated at 1000:1 with 1 new lev equal to 1 Deutsche 1999 Mark. The currency was no longer backed by gold and silver

Bulgaria committed to switching its currency, the lev, to the euro upon its joining 2007 the European Union in 2007, as stated in its EU accession treaty.

Bulgaria applied to enter the exchange rate mechanism (ERM-2), a mandatory two-year 2018 precursor to adopting the euro

The majority of Bulgarian citizens support EU DID YOU membership and the future entry of the country into Schengen and the Eurozone, but are against KNOW? replacing the national currency – the Bulgarian lev – with the euro*.

For the last 5 years the support for the replacement of the lev with the euro has increased from 16% in 2013 to 22% in 2018. At the same time, the opponents of such a change have decreased from 67% in 2013 to 56% in the spring of the current year*.

DATA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_lev https://osis.bg/?p=2457&lang=en https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bulgaria-euro/bulgarian-government-approves-roadmap-to- euro-membership-idUSKCN1L717Z www.foreiner.bg