Bulgarian Finance Minister Rossitsa Velkova announced on Friday the country will postpone the target date for adopting the euro from January 2024 after failing to meet the listed criteria.

The government is expected to request to join the common currency by 2025, Velkova told reporters, as further legal changes are needed before the change takes place. "Given that we will not file a convergence report now at the end of February, the target date of January 1, 2024 cannot stay," she noted.

The announcement comes as Bulgaria, the European Union's poorest member state, prepares to host its fifth election in the last two years. The Eurozone became larger earlier this year after Croatia's official joining.