Bulgaria Inside

During the fourth quarter of 2010, the average monthly salary in Bulgaria went up by 4.9% compared to the third quarter, to reach BGN 669.

The data was released Friday by the National Statistics Institute (NSI).

The average salary in October, November and December was BGN 650, 667 and 691 respectively.

The highest increases were registered in Education (13%), Financial Services (10%) while the salaries went down the most in Administration (1%) and the Mining Sector (0.1%). Read more abour: Average salary in Bulagria in 2011

In the recent months the banks’ advertisements of high interest rates on deposits are giving way to an increasing number of ads promoting mortgage loans again.

The first time steps towards lower interest rates on mortgages was in late 2009, although there were only a few scattered cases. Since the start of 2010, however, the trend has grown stronger, with several lenders launching big campaigns to promote mortgages, with more expected to join in soon. Read more about: Mortgage loans advertised again by Bulgarian banks

Credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service said on March 8 that the credit outlook for the Bulgarian banking system was negative, primarily reflecting the adverse impact of the domestic economic recession on the credit quality and net profits of the country’s banks.

Moody’s said that the opinion was not a projection of rating changes, rather the credit agency’s view on the likely future direction of fundamental credit conditions in the industry over the next 12 to 18 months. Read more about: Moody’s: Negative outlook for Bulgarian banks

Piraeus Bank Bulgaria cuts by half the interest rate of Miracle mortgages for the first six months of the loan and introduces one year grace period on the principal.Half Payments – For the first half year of the loan, the interest rate is fixed to 4.35% for loans in Euro and to 4.75% for loans in leva. The standard interest rate for the remaining period currently is 8.70% for Euro and 9.50% for leva. The maximum amount of the loan remains up to BGN 240 000 or the equivalent in Euro. The maximum repayment periods are one of the longest on the market – up to 30 years for leva loans and up to 25 years for Euro. Read more about: Piraeus Bank – Miracle Mortgage Loan

Bulgarians affected by the financial crunch have doubled over the past year and therefore expect a noticeable change in their consumption habits. This shows a survey among 800 people in Bulgaria. Approximately 60% of participants in the survey conducted in early 2010, say they feel tangible impact of the crisis on their lifestyles. Respectively the expectations out of this crisis remain pessimistic. One in five believes that the outcome will be the end of 2010 and in 2011, however the same percent of people doesn’t have a clear vision when it will happen. Read more about: Bulgarians affected by the financial crunch

In November 2009 the three-month interbank market index SOFIBOR decreased from 4.84 to 4.80% compared to the previous month, whereas the value in November 2008 was 7.89%. The annual growth rate of the broad money (monetary aggregate M3) was 6.4% in November 2009 against 4.4% in October, as at the end of November M3 amounted to BGN 46.761 billion (71.4% of the projected GDP for 2009) against BGN 46.554 billion in October (71.1% of GDP). The narrow money M1 amounted to BGN 17.738 billion as it decreased by 7.8% annually against a drop of 12.3% in October. Read more about: Bulgaria Monetary & Financial indicators 2010

Bulgaria’s gross domestic product (GDP) marks downturn with 3.5% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period of 2008, show preliminary data from the national statistics.
In the first quarter of this year the Bulgarian economy has shrank with 5% compared to the previous three months. According to the statistical data this is the second successive quarter in which the GDP marks a downturn compared to the previous three months, which means that Bulgaria can be defined as being in recession. Reag more about: Bulgaria in Recession in 2010

Like the older TARGET system, the purpose of TARGET2, is to facilitate real-time settlement of large-value payments and urgent payments, while inter-bank settlement is carried over on the accounts of banks held with the central bank. Read more about: Sixteen Bulgarian Banks have joined the new TARGET2 payment system

The interest rates in retail bank deposits ended the last year (2009) with decrease. The deposit expansion in both volume and interest rates on the Bulgarian retail market seems to have come to an end. Deposit interest rates are falling since the middle of 2009 from 8.16% in the beginning of the year to 7.5% in December (both market average for BGN deposits). The interest rates for EUR deposits are respectively dropping from 6.31% to 6.16%.

Promotion terms for the bank’s 3-, 6- and 12-month deposit products are valid by 12 February 2010 Raiffeisenbank has extended the promotional campaign on its deposits till12 February 2010. Promotional interest rates are valid for newly opened 3-, 6- and 12-month deposits in Bulgarian levs, euro and US dollars. The minimum amount for opening a […]