Credit Growth Slows Down In January 14/03/2008
The total volume of the bank loans extended in Bulgaria in January 2008 amounted to 530 million leva. The figure represents a nearly six-fold decrease compared to December 2007, when the volume of the loans stood at 3.38 billion leva. The growth of the business loans is slowing down significantly. Business loans growth marked a 71.5-per cent year on year increase in December 2007. The figure dropped to 69.9 per cent in January 2008. The credit growth to the non-government sector slowed to 61.8 per cent year on year as of end-January as compared to 62.5 per cent at end-December, according to the monetary survey of the central bank. The increase in credits denominated in foreign currency also moderated to 77.5 per cent annual rise in January, down by 2 points on a monthly basis, while... more

Words Of Advice When Buying Property Abroad 05/04/2008
Phrases like ‘credit crunch’ and ‘global financial crisis’ are having little effect on us resilient Brits, and whilst we may actually be feeling something of a financial squeeze and saving less and spending more cautiously, this has had nothing of a dampening effect on our insatiable desire for a place in the sun it seems! Whether your reasons for considering buying a property abroad stem from the fact that you can’t get a foothold on the British property ladder, you’re fed up with life in the UK or you want to invest in a property abroad rather than a poor returning pension plan back home, there are some words of advice that we would like to impart for you to think about when buying property abroad. If you want a jet to let property – i.e., a home abroad that you will rent out and... more

World Bank Floats 109 M Eur Loan To Local Municipalities 18/03/2008
The board of the directors of World Bank took a decision to float a loan to Bulgaria for the development of the municipality infrastructure on the amount of 109 million EUR. The loan will be approved in May and local municipalities could use the sources from June. Two main components in spending per 52 million EUR will be used for energy-savings in Water Supplies in the cities of Dobrich, Razgrad, Stara Zagora, Sliven, Turgovishte and Smoliyan. Part of the money will be given for repairs of the dams ‘Luda Yana', ‘Studena', ‘Nejkovtsi' and ‘Plovdivtsi' and for building of purification stations for drinking water. The money will be used for the whole improvement of the water sector in Stara Zagora . more

Bulgarians Took Over 2,5 Billion Eur Loans For One Year 06/06/2008
For a period of one year Bulgarians took 5,213 billion BGN (2,5 billion EUR) new loans. This was announced after data of Bulgarian National Bank (BNB). The growth in loans (residential, mortgage and consumers) for citizens and households by the end of April 2008 is 56%. The mortgage credits are overtaking the consumer ones, and if three years ago their part was 26,5% from the allocated for citizens and households loans, currently is almost 46%. The annual jump of consumer loans by the end of April this year is more than 52%, and those of firms - over 56%. The mortgage credits in Bulgaria by the end of the spring month are slowly increasing - 61%, compared to the 77% growth last year. more

Bulgaria Tourism Boss Calls For Boost Of Cultural Tourism 04/04/2008
The Head of the Bulgaria's State Agency for Tourism Aneliya Krushkova stated at a press conference Thursday the Bulgarian tourism companies needed to start offering more cultural tours, the Bulgarian National Radio reported. In her words, the demand among the European tour operators for this kind of service was rising but the supply in Bulgaria was still insufficient. Krushkova stated that if more companies invested more in such services, the State Agency for Tourism would be willing to institute special measures to support them. "Only 13,7% of Bulgarians and 17,6% of all foreign tourists have visited Bulgarian cultural sites in 2007, which is among the lowest rates in Europe", Krushkova announced. Yet, she added that more and more people were starting to show interest in... more