to achieve several goals. first, re - establishing the political contacts on the subject at the highest level, as we must not forget that in the end it is a political process and a political decision. unfortunately, in recent years the contacts on this topic have been protocol rather than substantive. second, returning to the path of fiscal consolidation, which is important not only for the accession process, but is also the basis of our most important comparative advantages in economic and financial terms. such a development is also of great importance for the bnb, due to the need to harmonise the monetary and fiscal conditions in our country. third, adopting as quickly as possible the law on the introduction of the euro, which will give clear indications, but also legal guarantees for businesses and households, as to what lies ahead. 4 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches fourth, accelerating the work on the remaining conditions and technical preparation. here i mean above all the issues of the government's competence, since, as i indicated, the bnb and the banking sector are working according to plan and will be fully ready before the end of this year. if this scenario materialises as soon as possible after the upcoming elections, the chances of joining the eurozone in 2025 remain strong and entirely realistic. in conclusion, let me sum up what i said. as a result of the political crisis of recent years, we have lost both the initiative and the leadership in the process of joining the eurozone. nevertheless, our readiness in terms of accession conditions, legislative and technical framework remains high. to successfully finalise the process in 2025, we also need a sustainable, pro - european political structure. 5 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches

dimitar radev : spillovers from the ecb ’ s monetary policy decisions are fast and strong statement by mr dimitar radev, governor of the bulgarian national bank, for the iflr yearbook : global banking & financial policy review 2019 / 2020, published on 24 september 2019. * * * there is much discussion these days about the course of monetary policy in the euro area. what global headlines rarely catch, however, is how such policy affects the european economies outside the euro area. bulgaria is an example where, due to the high openness of our economy and the strong financial links with the euro area, spillovers from the ecb ’ s monetary policy decisions are fast and strong. around 50 % of bulgaria ’ s exports go to the euro area. investors from the euro area account for 67 % of our fdi stock. our banking system is dominated by the presence of euro area owned banks, which hold around 55 % of the sector ’ s assets. the monetary policy regime in bulgaria ( a currency board with the national currency fixed to the euro ) is another factor enhancing the direct transmission of ecb ’ s monetary policy. therefore, even though bulgaria is not a member of the euro area yet, it is important to consider how our economy is affected by the ecb ’ s continued accommodative stance. financial stability and its implications are issues to be potentially concerned about. the ecb ’ s monetary policy in recent years has succeeded in sustaining the economic recovery in the eu following the great financial crisis. in the eu countries that are not using the euro, the effects from monetary conditions in the euro area led to improving macroeconomic environment, loosening financing conditions, and high bank liquidity. that stimulated lending and, in turn, the increase in residential property prices. however, these developments also increased cyclical risks. the bulgarian national bank conducted research into bulgaria ’ s financial cycle. our findings showed that we are currently in an upward phase of cyclical risk accumulation. hence, we activated and then raised the rate of the countercyclical capital buffer. we have so far taken two decisions. in 2018, we set the countercyclical capital buffer rate applicable to credit risk exposures in bulgaria at 0. 5 %, with effect from october 1 2019. in early 2019 we raised the rate to 1. 0 %, with effect from april 1 2020. the rate is applied to the overall credit stock of banks and not to the volume of newly issued