Currency
The Bulgarian currency is the lev (plural leva), which is divided up into 100 stotinki. In response to the runaway inflation of the 1990s, the currency reform of 1999 knocked three noughts off the value of the lev (so that 1000 old leva became 1 new lev), and you should bear in mind that pre-1999 notes and coins are no longer legal tender. Try and familiarize yourself with the new notes as soon as possible, thereby minimizing the risk of being fobbed off with old ones in exchange bureaux or market stalls. Notes come in denominations of 200, 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 leva; while coins come in denominations of 2 and 1 leva, and 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 stotinki. In 1999 the lev was pegged to the Deutschmark (at a rate of 1:1) and, minor fluctuations aside, has remained relatively stable against Western currencies ever since. Although almost all goods and services can be paid for in leva, hard currency (known as valuta ) is often required when buying international bus and airline tickets. In the case of hotels, however, although they may quote prices in US dollars or DMs, many prefer payment in the leva equivalent. For simplicity, we give dollar prices throughout; note that US$1 is currently equivalent to 2Lv).
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