* Finmin optimistic about Bulgaria adopting euro by 2013
* New govt aims to apply for ERM-2 entry in November
* Balanced budgets key to foreign cash inflows
* Govt to cut administration by 15 percent to rein in spending
(Adds job cuts in public sector, budget plans)
By Tsvetelia Ilieva
SOFIA, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's new centre-right government has accelerated efforts to join the euro zone and aims to adopt the single currency by 2013 during its mandate, Finance Minister Simeon Djankov said on Wednesday.
"My key goal for the whole mandate is euro zone entry," Djankov, who is also deputy prime minister, told a news conference. "I firmly believe and I am optimistic that this will happen in this mandate."
Djankov said he had launched informal talks about joining the pre-euro ERM-2 waiting room. The cabinet of the GERB party, which won July general elections, is working to apply for ERM-2 entry in November, he said.
High inflation and a current account deficit of over 20 percent of GDP in the past several years have hindered the Balkan country's efforts to join the ERM-2 mechanism so far.
Rampant corruption and organised crime, which the previous Socialist-led government failed to tackle, were also among the reasons for keeping the EU's poorest nation away from the euro, EU diplomats have said.
The new government has undertaken steps to prosecute senior officials of graft, curb the grey economy and crack down on smuggling.
Djankov said proving that Sofia had a different approach and was serious about reforms would guarantee euro zone entry.
"The new government must show that it is doing a job different from that of the previous government," he said.
Inflation is expected to fall to below 3 percent at the end of this year as a result of falling domestic demand and the global downturn, while the external deficit is seen shrinking to 11 percent from 26 percent at end-2008.
BALANCED BUDGETS
Djankov said the government had sent its mid-term fiscal and anti-crisis plans to the European Commission that include concrete steps and deadlines for their execution.
The new cabinet has already won praise for cutting spending to avoid an end-year budget deficit that could put pressure on Bulgaria's lev currency peg to the euro.
Sofia plans to keep the peg of 1.95583 levs per euro until entering the euro zone. The latest Reuters poll on the issue, taken in august, showed Bulgaria and neighbouring Romania adopting the euro in 2015.
Djankov said the government will cut the bloated public administration by 15 percent by the end of the year to further rein in spending and achieve a balanced budget.
"This (a balanced budget) will send a big signal... If we achieve it or show we are taking steps to achieve it, financial inflows to Bulgaria will become much cheaper," he said.
Djankov said conservative fiscal policy would lower the cost of lending and help the emerging economy exit recession sooner. The economy shrank by 4.9 percent in the second quarter and 3.5 percent in the first after 12 years of growth.
Analysts say Bulgaria has not yet passed the worst and forecast a contraction of about 5-6 percent this year as the Balkan country lags behind other east European economies, which have already seen some fragile signs of recovery. (Writing by Anna Mudeva; editing by Stephen Nisbet)