Bulgarian Central Bank Buys Two Tons of Gold Ahead of Euro Adoption

Jerusalem, 9 October, 2025 (TPS-IL) -- Sofia (BTA) – The Bulgarian National Bank has acquired 2,053.2 kgvof gold in connection with the upcoming introduction of the euro, the central central bank announced. This comes after the EU Council adopted a Decision on the introduction of the euro in Bulgaria on July 8, 2026, it added.

The transactions were carried out on international markets at market prices, with the transaction amounting to less than 1 percent of its international foreign exchange reserves.

According to the rules of the European Central Bank (ECB), upon adoption of the euro, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) should provide foreign reserve assets to the ECB, the purpose of the operation being to secure the necessary amount of gold without reducing the existing gold reserve of the BNB. These foreign reserve assets include mainly foreign currency, but also gold – in a ratio of 85 percent to 15 percent.

In accounting terms, this contribution to the ERM is reported as a claim of the BNB on the ECB and is recorded as an asset on the BNB’s balance sheet, thus ensuring access of the BNB to the income of the Eurosystem.

Earlier this month, the World Gold Council announced that the Bulgarian National Bank had acquired 2 tons of gold in August, in the largest such operation since 1997, when Bulgaria introduced a currency board.

On January 1, 2026, the Euro will replace the Bulgarian lev as the country’s sole currency.