* Sofia to apply for ERM-2 as early as March-finmin
* Entering euro zone by 2013 is govt's key political goal
* Finmin rejects statements Bulgaria not ready yet
By Anna Mudeva and Tsvetelia Ilieva
SOFIA, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Bulgaria will apply to join the pre-euro ERM-2 waiting room as early as March to meet its main policy goal of entering the euro zone by 2013, its finance minister said, brushing off scepticism in Western Europe.
Simeon Djankov told Reuters in an interview on Thursday the new centre-right government, elected in July, had mobilised all of its political resources to lobby with key European Union decision-makers in favour of Bulgaria's application.
"The prime minister started talking about entering the euro zone as the main foreign policy goal of the government for its (four-year mandate), which is a big step forward," said Djankov, a former World Bank economist, who is also deputy premier.
"In the past three months, I have managed to talk to all of the euro zone finance ministers," he added.
"Last week, I was in Spain, which will be the next EU president, to ... prepare them that in a very short-term we expect to launch an official process of joining the ERM-2."
Analysts and some diplomats say Sofia's bid was likely to meet resistance in Western Europe where the mood was against allowing more countries into the euro zone in times of crisis, and Bulgaria itself had to heal its ailing economy first.
Djankov admitted Sofia's prospects of early entry into ERM-2 were not bright.
"It is difficult at the moment because we are in crisis, not just us but the whole of Europe".
He said the financial problems of the Baltic countries, all of which are in the ERM-2, as well as Greece's recent troubles had made some euro zone members, the European Central Bank and the European Commission worried about letting newcomers join in.
FORMAL CRITERIA
But Bulgaria was in a better state, Djankov argued, adding it would be the only EU country to meet all of the formal Maastricht criteria for joining the euro zone next year.
The new cabinet has patched up Bulgaria's leaky budget by cutting spending by 15 percent and taking steps to crack down on smuggling and tax evasion to boost revenues. It has also sacked hundreds of customs officers and taxmen in efforts to stamp out official corruption and organised crime.
As a result Bulgaria, the poorest EU nation in terms of GDP per capita, is expected to end 2009 with a small deficit of 0.76 percent of GDP, the lowest in the bloc. It also approved an austerity budget for 2010 with a deficit of 0.7 percent.
Double-digit inflation and a current account deficit of over 20 percent of GDP in the past several years hindered Sofia's previous efforts to join the ERM-2, although the gap is not part of the entry criteria.
Corruption and organised crime were also among the reasons for keeping Bulgaria away from the euro, EU diplomats have said.
The new cabinet has undertaken steps to prosecute senior officials for graft and to curb the grey economy. The recession has hit domestic demand, easing inflation significantly and slashing the current account deficit.
"From this point of view we cover all formal criteria and this is what matters. That is why we are charging ahead," Djankov said, adding that Sofia would apply for ERM-2 after Brussels assessed its three-year fiscal plan as early as March.
He said the new cabinet would not succumb to populism in the face of rising public discontent over the economic pain, and would press ahead with planned reforms of the bloated public administration and the inefficient, indebted health sector.
"Worldwide experience shows that 85 percent of the reforms should be carried out in the first nine months in office of a new government...After that, the hunger for reforms declines and people get tired. We have until April to implement big reforms." (Writing by Anna Mudeva and Tsvetelia Ilieva; editing by Stephen Nisbet)