Our currency board has been operating smoothly ever since, over various economic and financial cycles in both good and bad times, proving the cornerstone of monetary, financial and macroeconomic stability in Bulgaria’s most recent history. We can make an assessment that the currency board is the most successful time consistent policy commitment regime for achieving price stability that we have had since the restoration of the Bulgarian state. Our currency board is an undisputed success story. Historically, however, the Bulgarian National Bank has engaged in a number of monetary policy regimes. Notably monetary unions – the focus of the conference today – have repeatedly appeared as centres of gravity. In the late nineteenth century Bulgaria adhered to the Latin Monetary Union by means of unilateral commitment to its principles. In the second half of the twentieth century Bulgaria was part of the Comecon (the Communist Bloc’s Council for Mutual Economic Assistance) where a common international currency evolved to serve international payments between the participating members. At the turn of the last century the newly created euro replaced the Deutsche Mark as the reserve currency of the currency board in Bulgaria. To sum up, our own experience is part of the global history of alternating monetary policy regimes. It motivates our interest in both the history and future of monetary unions. As central bankers we do look forward to the papers and discussions today, since the historical perspectives therein should also bring out rather relevant contemporary insights for policy.
Kalin Hristov: Monetary unions in history Welcome remarks by Mr Kalin Hristov, Deputy Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank, at the Conference “Monetary Unions in History”, jointly organised by the Bulgarian National Bank and the European Association for Banking and Financial History (eabh) e.V., Sofia, 1 July 2022. * * * Dear Members of the Association, Dear conference participants, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is an honour to welcome you to this conference which the Bulgarian National Bank organises in cooperation with the European Association for Banking and Financial History. I am also delighted to have this event, together with yesterday’s workshop on the “Digital rebirth of historical datasets”, taking place in Sofia alongside the annual meeting of the Association. This year marks twenty years since the Bulgarian National Bank became a member of the Association; this is the first time, however, that an annual meeting and events of the Association are hosted in Bulgaria. Let me, therefore, extend words of gratitude for the excellent cooperation with the Association regarding the organisation of this series of events. The Bulgarian National Bank is one of the oldest central banks in the world, thirteenth by order of its establishment in 1879. Our institution has understandably cultivated a profound respect for banking and financial history, as seen from our topical publications and research projects we take part in. For us history is also vibrantly present today – exactly twenty-five years ago, 1 July 1997 was the day of introduction of the currency board in Bulgaria.