The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) is introducing new measures to limit lending, announced by the Central Bank. Starting April 1 next year, the countercyclical capital buffer will be set at 2.25%. This marks the first change in a year and a half, as it currently stands at 2%. The supervisory authority indicates that at the...

The European Central Bank (ECB) wants to make the process of reducing non-performing loans (NPL) in banks more flexible and in line with the current reality. The ECB has launched a Next Level Supervision project, as announced in the regular Supervision Spotlight bulletin. According to this year’s plans, the ECB’s expectations for coverage of non-performing...

Non-performing receivables in leasing decreased at the end of last year both in value and as a share of the portfolio, according to data from the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB). At the same time the sector is growing – by more than 11% on an annual basis. This is the largest increase since June 2024....

Among the fears related to Bulgaria’s accession to the euro area, the main concerns are linked with inflation and financial sector instability that can spread across borders. While it is difficult to give a straightforward answer about inflation due to various influencing factors, there are clear indicators for the financial sector that show its resilience....

The banks in the euro area apart from Bulgaria unexpectedly tightened lending standards for corporate loans at the end of last year, according to a survey by the European Central Bank (ECB). The main reason is the growing perception of risk and lower tolerance for it, as noted by the ECB. There was a slight...

Mortgage loans in Bulgaria have reached nearly EUR 17 billion – an absolute record in Bulgarian banking history, according to the latest data from the BNB’s monetary statistics. At the end of last year, the total granted mortgage loans amounted to EUR 16.8 billion, representing an over 28% increase on the year, the largest increase...

The share of Europeans who pay their bills on time continues to increase last year, according to the European Consumer Payment Report (ECPR). Last year, 76% of Europeans managed to repay their debts on time, which is 2 percentage points higher than in 2024 and much higher than the share from 2023 – then their...

Overdue loans in Bulgaria and in most European countries continue to decrease, according to data provided by the European Banking Authority (EBA) in its regular Risk Dashboard report. At the end of September 2025, the non-performing loans (NPLs) of the Bulgarian banks stood at 1.8% of the total portfolio, down by 0.01 percentage points year-on-year....

Starting from the beginning of next year, alongside the adoption of the euro, the credit market in Bulgaria will undergo another significant change. In October, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) adopted amendments to the Ordinance on the Central Credit Register. These amendments will shorten the deadlines for submitting information on credit obligations, and the register...