Bulgarian leasing companies' claims rise 15.2% y/y at end-Sept

Compared to the end of June, the overall amount of claims was 4.1% higher at the end of September and represented 3.2% of the gross domestic product (GDP) forecast for 2023, Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said in a statement.

In September last year, the claims were equivalent to 3.1% of the 2022 GDP.

Financial lease claims totalled some 5.63 billion levs at the end of the ninth month of 2023, rising by 16.5% on the year and by 4.7% quarter-on-quarter.

Operational lease claims declined by an annual 4% to 331.5 million levs at the end of September and were 6.2% lower compared to the end of the first half of this year.

The assets of the companies operating in Bulgaria's leasing sector stood at 7.37 billion levs at the end of the review month, up from 6.23 billion levs in the same period last year. There were 47 active leasing companies, the same as a year earlier.

(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)