Bulgarian leasing companies' claims up 14.8% y/y at end-March

Compared to the end of 2023, the overall amount of claims was 3.1% higher at the end of March and represented 3.2% of the gross domestic product (GDP) forecast for 2024, Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said in a quarterly report.

In March last year, the claims were equivalent to 3% of the 2023 GDP.

Financial lease claims totalled some 5.94 billion levs at the end of the first quarter of 2024, rising by 15.9% on the year and by 3% quarter-on-quarter.

Operational lease claims declined by an annual 1.9% to 350.1 million levs at the end of March but were 4.6% higher compared to the end of last year.

The assets of the companies operating in Bulgaria's leasing sector stood at 7.67 billion levs at the end of the review month, up from 6.65 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)