Bulgarian Lending Rates to Change Little in 2010 – Central Bank

“There is small chance for a contraction of risk premiums [in the Bulgarian banking sector] to an extent that could lead to a significant decrease of lending rates in the country in the coming year ”, Hristov told the Eighth Business Roundtable with the Bulgarian Government Conferences organized by The Economist Intelligence Unit in Sofia.

Domestic loan rates will hardly return to their pre-crisis levels by the end of 2010, Hristov said, adding that these rates are not much higher than in the rest of Europe.

The credit portfolio of Bulgarian commercial banks totalled 49.7 billion levs at the end of September, 5.0% up from a year earlier, according to central bank data.