Despite the rising prices of basic goods and services in January, our country retains a chance to report inflation within the requirements for introducing the euro. This is indicated by Eurostat's preliminary data on price growth in the eurozone. Data for all countries in the union are still expected, Nova TV reports.
Against this background, however, other question marks appear, related to the other economic indicators that we must cover. They could distance us from the single European currency.
In the first month of 2025, the prices of basic foods, electricity, gas and water increased. A similar trend is also reported for fuels. In 4 months, prices jumped by nearly 20 stotinki. Despite the increase in some prices, preliminary data show that if inflation in January remains at around 3%, this would not be a problem for the euro.
In the three eurozone countries with the lowest inflation, the average is 1.6%. If we add the permissible deviation of 1.5%, this means that with inflation up to 3.1% in our country we meet the price stability requirement.
"In addition to inflation, the fiscal framework for this year and the next three will obviously be looked at, as well as the deficit for last year, since it is a controversial topic. The big question is really whether we will get the green light regarding state finances, if we assume that we will still meet the inflation target", said Petar Ganev from the Institute for Market Economics.
According to him, for last year "the game is over". "It is now a matter of mechanics to calculate how much the deficit is on an accrual basis, that is, what the commitments are. Some of the preliminary data for the quarters may change", he commented.