Bulgarian Lev country flag

Bulgarian Lev

BGN

Лв.
Hungarian Forint country flag

Hungarian Forint

HUF

Ft
Bulgarian Lev
The lev (лев; plural: лева, левове; lev, leva, levove; ISO 4217 code: BGN) was the currency of Bulgaria from 1880 to 2025. The euro replaced the lev on 1 January 2026; during the cash changeover period (1–31 January 2026), the lev and the euro circulated in parallel for cash payments, and from 1 February 2026 the euro became the sole legal tender in Bulgaria. The name lev derives from an archaic Bulgarian word meaning "lion" (modern лъв, lǎv, IPA: [ɫɤf]). The lev was subdivided into 100 stotinki (стотинки; singular: стотинка, stotinka); the term is derived from the Bulgarian word for "hundred" (сто, sto) and is modelled on the French centime. On Bulgarian euro coinage, the denominations below one euro use the inscriptions СТОТИНКА / СТОТИНКИ as the Bulgarian equivalent of "cent". Under a currency board introduced in 1997, the lev was initially pegged to the Deutsche Mark (1,000 BGL = 1 DEM). In 1999, the lev was redenominated at 1000:1 with 1 new lev (1 BGN) equal to 1 DEM. Subsequently the peg was shifted to the euro at a fixed rate of 1 EUR = 1.95583 BGN. The lev joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II) on 10 July 2020 at the same rate until ultimately exiting both the ERM II and the currency board upon joint the eurozone on 1 January 2026.
Hungarian Forint
The forint (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈforint] , sign Ft; code HUF) is the currency of Hungary. It was formerly divided into 100 fillér, but fillér coins are no longer in circulation. The introduction of the forint on 1 August 1946 was a crucial step in the post-World War II stabilisation of the Hungarian economy, and the currency remained relatively stable until the 1980s. Transition to a market economy in the early 1990s adversely affected the value of the forint; inflation peaked at 35% in 1991. Between 2001 and 2022, inflation was in single digits, and the forint has been declared fully convertible. In May 2022, inflation reached 10.7% amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine and economic uncertainty. As a member of the European Union, the long-term aim of the Hungarian government may be to replace the forint with the euro, although under the current government there is no target date for adopting the euro.