The National Bank of Bulgaria’s Governing Council adopted an ordinance to repeal its domestic rules on mandatory minimum reserves held by banks at the central bank, paving the way for the application of the Eurosystem minimum reserve framework once the euro is introduced in Bulgaria. Following the euro changeover, banks and branches of foreign banks in Bulgaria will apply the Eurosystem minimum reserve requirements under Council Regulation (EC) No 2531/98 and European Central Bank Regulations (EU) 2021/378 and 2023/1679, with the reserve base calculated in line with ECB Regulation (EU) 2021/379. The repeal withdraws National Bank of Bulgaria Ordinance No. 21 (2015) with effect from 1 January 2026, and ECB Decision ECB/2025/33 sets a transitional reserve maintenance period for Bulgarian-located institutions from 1 January to 10 February 2026. For December 2025, the repeal ordinance sets a reserve base period of 1–28 December 2025 and a reserve maintenance period of 4–31 December 2025.
National Bank of Bulgaria 2025-10-27
National Bank of Bulgaria repeals its minimum reserve ordinance from 1 January 2026 to align with Eurosystem rules
The National Bank of Bulgaria's Governing Council has adopted an ordinance to repeal domestic rules on mandatory minimum reserves, aligning with the Eurosystem framework upon Bulgaria's euro adoption. This change will take effect on 1 January 2026, with a transitional reserve maintenance period set by the European Central Bank from 1 January to 10 February 2026. The ordinance also specifies a reserve base period for December 2025.