Bulgarian leasing companies' claims grow 15% in 2023

Compared to the end of September, the overall amount of claims was 2.4% higher at the end of December and represented 3.3% of the gross domestic product (GDP) projected for 2023, Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said in a quarterly report.

In 2022, the claims were equivalent to 3.2% of the year's GDP.

Financial lease claims amounted to 5.77 billion levs at the end of December, representing an annual rise of 16.9% and a quarterly increase of 2.5%.

Operational lease claims fell by an annual 5.9% to 334.6 million levs at the end of 2023 but were 0.9% higher than at the end of September.

The assets of the companies operating in Bulgaria's leasing sector stood at 7.45 billion levs at the end of December, up from some 6.36 billion levs a year earlier. There were 47 active leasing companies, the same as at the end of 2022.

(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)