The Governing Council of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) has ordered banks in the country to apply a minimum set of 6 indicators for monitoring credit standards when granting and renegotiating loans secured by residential real estate. The aim is to preserve liquidity buffers in the banking system amidst significant credit growth, particularly in mortgages, BNB said.
The annual growth rate of mortgage loans has increased from 10.1% at the end of 2020 to 19.9% at the end of 2023, reaching a total of EUR 3 billion. Banks have not loosened the regime for granting such loans and should not do so, the central bank's report said. The total amount of deposits at the end of 2023 is EUR 73.5 billion, with the deposit growth for the last four years being more than EUR 25 billion.
The price of electricity for households could increase by nearly 9% starting next year, according to estimates by the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission. This means that with an average consumption of nearly 400 kilowatt-hours, the monthly bills..
The leadership of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) insists that a national subsistence wage be introduced in Bulgaria, with the minimum wage in the country reaching at least 80% of the subsistence wage by 2027. According..
In the period January - September 2024, exports of goods from Bulgaria to the EU decreased by 3.6% compared to a year earlier and amounted to 20.895 billion euros. The main trading partners are Germany, Romania, Italy, Greece and..
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