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Bulgaria is going to preserve the fixed exchange rate of its currency to the euro until the country joins the Eurozone, and adopts the common European currency as its own. This is envisaged in Bulgaria's Convergence Program for 2008-2011, which was approved Thursday by the government. The Bulgarian national currency Lev is currently pegged to the euro, with EUR 1 = BGN 1,95583. The main priority of the government's Convergence Program remain the maintaining of the macroeconomic stability, and of a stable economic growth rate. The main factors for achieving these goals, according to the government, are the furthering of the structure reforms, the improvement of the business climate, and increasing institutional capacities. The Program expects that the global financial crisis is going to affect negatively the Bulgarian economy as it would lead to a decrease of exports and of foreign direct investments. To offset the potential negative consequences, the cabinet has provided for a series of fiscal buffers, and is planning to restructure public spending in order to provide more investments in infrastructure projects. Bulgaria's Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski is going to present the Convergence Program to the European Commission at the beginning of December. The Convergence Program is prepared every year in accordance with the requirements of EU's Stability and Growth Pact, which aims to facilitate EU's Economic and Monetary Union. The Bulgarian institutions initially hoped the country could join the Eurozone in 2010. However, the deadline was later postponed for 2011-2012. Recent studies claim that Bulgaria could not hope to adopt the euro earlier than 2014. On January 1, 2009, Slovakia will become the second former communist EU member after Slovenia to join the Eurozone.