Bulgaria freezes Eurozone entry bid

Bulgaria has frozen its plans to join the euro zone, and accordingly halting the adoption of the Euro as a common currency, Finance Minister Simeon Djankov said. Speaking in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Monday, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Finance Minister Djankov said the decision was the result of the debt crisis and the double dip recession facing the eurozone, along with rising public opposition to joining the single currency. Bulgaria has been gearing up to join the eurozone since 2010 with a target date of 2013. By year 2011, it has already fulfilled the economic criteria to join the euro, having reduced its budget deficit to 2.1, comfortably below the 3 percent limit laid out in the Stability and Growth Pact.