News Guide Bulgaria Finances and Money

Vratsa: Minister of finances comments interest rates on loans during visit to Vratsa

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:09:00 GMT

" I expect interest rates on loans in Bulgaria to nosedive very soon ," Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov declared during his visit to the town of Vratsa . According to No.1 Financier, the downward trend in interest rates has been traceable as of Septembe...

Kavarna: Italian company clinched leasing for wind farm in Kavarna

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:51:00 GMT

Italian company Leitner Technologies, building the wind farm in Kavarna , has clinched a deal with UniCredit Leasing, by virtue of which the latter would provide the funding to the project. The financing agreement worth some EUR 12 million covered 100% ...

Varna: Latvian bank opens branch in Varna

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Latvia`s Regionala Investiciju Banka has set up a Bulgarian branch, opening its flagship office in the Black Sea city of Varna . The Bulgarian National Bank ( BNB ) told Dnevnik the branch kicked off effective banking operations on the market on Octob...

Bulgaria going to apply to the ERM-2

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:00:00 GMT

Bulgaria will apply early next year to join the exchange-rate mechanism, the two-year currency stability test prior to euro adoption, and seek to switch to the common currency in 2013, Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov said. " We are going to apply to the ...

Banks asks BNB to reduce the rate of the mandatory minimum financial reserves

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:00:00 GMT

The commercial banks are preparing to request financial aid from the Bulgarian National Bank . During talks with finance minister Dyankov on Wednesday, representatives of the banking sector will ask the national bank to reduce the rate of the mandator...

Losses of Bulgarian banks will reach about BGN 3.7 bn

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:20:00 GMT

The losses of the Bulgarian banking sector, as a result of written off of assets, due to the recession, will reach about BGN 3.7 bn, or approximately 6 % of GDP 2008, according to UniCredit Group `s latest survey on the banking sector development in Centr...

Lowest basic interest rate since 1991

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:00:00 GMT

The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) has announced the lowest basic interest rate since the index was recorded for the first time in 1991. From November 1 2009, the basic interest rate has been set at 0.61%, which is down by 0.85 percentage points compared ...

Postbank grants BGN 300,000 to pupils and students

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 01:00:00 GMT

Postbank , the Bulgarian unit of Greece`s Eurobank EFG, said on Thursday it has dished out north of BGN 300,000 in grants to pupils and students as part of its Strong Start programme aimed at promoting education. More than 715 people have benefitted from ...

Prices of alcoholic drinks and cigarettes in Bulgaria will be increased

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:00:00 GMT

Alcoholic drinks and cigarettes will cost near 50 % more as of 2010. The excise duty to be raised by 15%, finance minister Simeon Djankov proposed. The change would affect home made rakiya (typical Bulgarian drink) as well. The higher tax would lower the...

BG base interest rate down to 1.46% for October

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:01:00 GMT

Pursuant to Art. 35 of the Law on the Bulgarian National Bank, the BNB announces, as of 1 October 2009, a base interest rate (simple per annum interest) of 1.46 %. Last mount the base interest rate was 1.57 %. The base interest rate effective from the ...

Bad credits in Bulgaria increased to 7.4%

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:00:00 GMT

Bad credits in Bulgaria demonstrated a steady increase as their end-August share reached 7.4 percent of all bank loans. For comparison, in August last year the percentage figure was 2.8. According to the data of the Bulgarian National Bank , the bad cre...

Foreign companies and private persons opening bank deposits in Bulgaria

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:00:00 GMT

Companies and private persons across Europe have shown interest in opening bank deposits in Bulgaria, said Momchil Andreev, CEO of Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria, in an interview with the Bulgarian news agency (BTA). " Over the past few weeks we have received q...

4 banks will decrease interest rates on their credits

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 03:00:00 GMT

Four banks will lower the interest rates on credits within several days. The new interest rates policy concerns all kinds of credits in both euro and levs. The new consumer loans, allotted by Raiffeisen Bank, are lower by 0.5% to 2%.

The National Bank announces a base interest rate of 1.57%

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:26:00 GMT

Pursuant to Art. 35 of the Law on the Bulgarian National Bank , the BNB announces, as of 1 September 2009, a base interest rate (simple per annum interest) of 1.57 percent. Last mount the base interest rate was 1.71 percent. The base interest rate effe...

DSK Bank extends the special terms on deposits in EUR, BGN and USD

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:05:00 GMT

DSK Bank prolongs the special terms on its newly-opened deposits in BGN, EUR and USD of both retail and commercial clients. Thus, the bank`s promotion is valid till October `09. The required minimum for opening deposits at DSK Bank is BGN/EUR/USD 250 for...

Bad credits in BG banking system grown by 159%

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:00:00 GMT

The volume of bad credits in Bulgaria’s banking system has grown by 159% in just a year, an investor.bg research based on data of the Bulgarian National Bank alarmed. July added another BGN 195 million to the overall bad credit amount boosting the figu...

The operating income of Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria increased 10%

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:30:00 GMT

The operating income of Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria increased 10% in the first half of 2009, year on year, to BGN 194 million. Operating profit rose 4% to BGN 100.8 million. Post-tax profit, however, fell to BGN 45.2 million, compared to BGN 81.3 million for t...

Resignation of Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:17:00 GMT

Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank ( BNB ) Ivan Iskrov handed in his resignation in the National Assembly. Speaker of the Parliament Tsetska Tsacheva read а written requisition, which says the National Assembly has the right to appoint and discharge...

Sofia: Bulgaria GDP Dropped 4.8% in Q2 of 2009

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 01:40:00 GMT

Sofia , August 17 (BTA) - Bulgaria`s gross domestic product dropped by 4.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2009 from the like period a year ago, according to estimates released by the National Statistical Institute (NSI) on Monday. In the first half of...

UniCredit Bulbank, UBB and Raiffeisenbank - top commercial lenders in Q2 of 2009

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:00:00 GMT

UniCredit Bulbank , United Bulgarian Bank (UBB) and Raiffeisenbank have been Bulgaria`s top commercial lenders in the second quarter of 2009, BNB data shows. The three financial institutions have approved corporate loans up BGN 81, 204, 000 (0.25%) ...

Education on leasing

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:50:00 GMT

Some private schools in Bulgaria have started clinching financing agreements with commercial banks in order to help parents pay for the education of their children in parts through the year. A fine example of this practice is the partnership between A...

BGN 34.7 billion cash amount on deposits in BG banks

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 09:45:00 GMT

The overall amount of cash that citizens and firms keep on deposits stands at BGN 34.7 billion, as shown in BNB statistics for end-June 2009. The money is distributed in 12.9 million deposits, which means the average deposit amount runs up to nearly BGN ...

Blagoevgrad: Fitch affirms Blagoevgrad rating

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:30:00 GMT

Global rating agency Fitch affirmed at BB+ with a stable outlook the long-term credit rating of the southwestern Bulgarian municipality of Blagoevgrad . The ration action reflects the absence of debts and the municipality`s capacity to finance its capital...

UBB closed 2008 with a pre-tax profit of BGN 217.1 million

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 04:30:00 GMT

United Bulgarian Bank closed 2008 with a pre-tax profit of BGN 217.1 million, which will be all stashed away as reserves, the lender said. The result represents a 5.5% increase on the prior year. The net profit added up to BGN 195.342 million. UBB`s ma...

ProCredit resumes loans to bankroll energy efficiency projects

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:45:00 GMT

ProCredit resumes extending household loans to bankroll energy efficiency projects. The funding is capped at EUR 50,000 and comes with a repayment term of up to three years with one guarantor and up to eight years if secured with a mortgage. The local-cu...