8-year peak in residential and consumer loans in Bulgaria

The record low interest rates greatly revived lending in the country and brought it to levels we had not seen since mid-2009, reports BGNES.

BNB data show that in September 2017 the average interest rate on consumer loans in BGN decreased compared to September 2016 by 0.82 percentage points - to 8.08% and those in EUR - by 1.27 percentage points - to 4.90%.

The downward trend in interest rates is also maintained on a monthly basis, as in September 2017 compared to August 2017, the average interest rate on consumer loans in BGN decreased by 0.03 percentage points and that in EUR by 0.06 percentage points . In the case of BGN loans for house purchase, it decreased by 0.02 percentage points and in the case of EUR loans for house purchases - by 0.20 percentage points. The quarterly change in home and consumer loans started to reach confidence levels before the economic crisis. Between September 2016 and September 2017, loans to households grew by 6.8%. For the third quarter housing loans increased by BGN 184.6 million and consumer loans by BGN 182.5 million. For the last quarter, similar quarterly growth rates were reported in the third quarter of 2009.

The government's expectations are that credit growth will remain stable in the coming years. This is clear from the draft state budget law for 2018. In households, the growth rates seen are between 5.7% and 6.1%. For business loans, forecasts are for accelerating growth in the coming years, reaching 6.9% in 2020.

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