Bulgarian lev exchange rate

The exchange rate of the Bulgarian lev and the turmoil associated with it

Bulgaria's turbulent history is reflected in its currency quite well. For hundreds of years, the territory was under the influence of the Roman Empire and later the Ottoman Empire. The Autonomous Principality of Bulgaria was established only at the end of the 19th century, and the Bulgarian lev introduced in 1881, the currency in use to this day, was the crowning achievement. At that time, the Bulgarian lev was backed by gold, and the price of the lev was equal to the price of the French franc. Thanks to the link between the two currencies, Bulgaria joined the Latin Monetary Union. The Balkan wars contributed to the abandonment of the gold standard, and the following years brought high inflation to Bulgaria – the BGN exchange rate was stabilised in 1924, but this required the Bulgarian lev to be pegged to the dollar. In the 1930s, BGN was pegged to the German mark, and after the occupation of Bulgaria by the Red Army, to the Soviet ruble. After World War II inflation, a second series of Bulgarian currency entered circulation and the Bulgarian lev was re-pegged to the dollar. Today, the currency of Bulgaria functions in the form of the fifth series, introduced in 1999.

Nowadays, the Bulgarian lev is not very popular on the financial market, and is known mainly because of holiday trips. Therefore, the exchange rate of the lev to the zloty is most often checked around the holiday season. However, BGN PLN is not the only currency pair that is gaining interest at this time – for the rest of Europeans, what is important is the conversion of the Bulgarian currency to the euro. This value is unlikely to surprise anyone, because the Bulgarian lev is officially pegged to the euro, which means that the lev to euro exchange rate is fixed – 1.95 lev per euro. The exchange rate pegged to a more stable European currency makes foreign entrepreneurs more willing to cooperate with Bulgarian contractors.