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Bulgarian lev

Currency of Bulgaria / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The lev (Bulgarian: лев, plural: лева, левове / leva,[3] levove; ISO 4217 code: BGN; numeric code: 975) is the currency of Bulgaria. In old Bulgarian the word "lev" meant "lion", the word 'lion' in the modern language is lаv (IPA: [ɫɤf]; in Bulgarian: лъв). The lev is divided in 100 stotinki (стотинки, singular: stotinka, стотинка). Stotinka in Bulgarian means "a hundredth" and in fact is a translation of the French term "centime". Grammatically the word "stotinka" comes from the word "sto" (сто) - a hundred.

Quick facts: лев (Bulgarian) , ISO 4217, Code, Subuni...
Bulgarian lev
лев (Bulgarian)
The_First_Bulgarian_Banknote_Frontside.png
The first Bulgarian banknote, 1885
ISO 4217
CodeBGN (numeric: 975)
Subunit0.01
Unit
Plurallevove, numeric: leva
SymbolThe abbreviation лв. (lv.) is used
Nicknamekint[1]
Denominations
Subunit
1100stotinka
Plural
stotinkastotinki
Symbol
stotinkaст. (st.)
Banknotes5, 10, 20, 50, 100 leva
Coins1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 st., 1 lev, 2 leva
Demographics
Date of introduction4 June 1880 (1880-06-04)
User(s)
Issuance
Central bankBulgarian National Bank
Websitewww.bnb.bg
MintBulgarian Mint
Websitewww.mint.bg
Valuation
Inflation14.3% (2022)
Pegged withEuro (€) = 1.95583 leva
EU Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM)
Since10 July 2020
1  =BGN 1.95583[2]
Band15.0% de jure; 0.0% de facto
Close

Since 1997, the lev has been in a currency board arrangement with initially the Deutsche Mark at a fixed rate of BGL 1000 to DEM 1. After the introduction of the euro and the redenomination of the lev in 1999, this has resulted in a fixed rate to the euro of BGN 1.95583 : EUR 1. Since 2020, the lev has been a part of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II). The lev is scheduled to be supplanted by the euro on 1 January 2025.