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Bulgaria's credit market gains slower in smaller volumes

Thursday, Feb 26, 2009

Bulgaria's retail credit market gave up half of last year's growth, with household loans adding 28.3 per cent and corporate loans up 32 per cent year-on-year in January, according to central Bulgarian National Bank data.

The respective figures were 52.6 per cent and 69.9 per cent for the same month of 2008, when they started to rise slower, reaching 48.9 per cent and 55.5 per cent in the middle of the year.

At the end of 2008, the household segment grew 31.4 per cent and business loans rose 33.1 per cent. The credit market is expected to rise in the range of 10 to 15 per cent this year.

Household loans added up to 18.055 billion leva in January 2009, down 36 million leva on the month, or 0.2 per cent lower compared to a 0.3 per cent growth the previous month.

Consumer loans dropped 32.4 million leva.

Analysts said that banks and clients were being cautious.

Interest in mortgage loans is waning against a background of forecasts that real estate prices will slide this year.

Moreover, plagued by fears about their incomes, people are choosing not to take on new debt, bankers said.

Banks' combined corporate loan portfolio expanded by 243 million leva, which is 0.8 per cent on the month. In January it grew by a tiny 33 million leva, or 0.1 per cent.

Bankers commented the clouds are unlikely to lift in the next two or three months.

ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said on February 23 2009 that net cash flows to the eurozone had decreased sharply over the past month, and in December bank financing contracted for the first time since 1998, down 0.4 per cent to 47 billion euro.

Source: Sofia Echo