Bulgaria prepares to join the euro on New Year’s Day

Bulgarian banks, businesses and shoppers were preparing this week to say goodbye to the lev currency ahead of a move to adopt the euro on January 1, a long-awaited milestone met with excitement, scepticism and, in some corners, anger.

Bulgaria, a Black Sea country on the European Union’s southeast frontier, will be the 21st country to join the euro currency zone after it met the formal entry criteria this year, including for inflation, budget deficit, long-term borrowing costs and exchange-rate stability.