Housing lending slowed sharply in November
Businesses are withdrawing their savings from banks en masse while households are accumulating savings at a tremendous rate
~ 2 min read
Georgi Zhelyazkov The latest data from the Bulgarian National Bank already shows a cooling of lending activity, especially for business and housing loans. Deposit behavior’s highly divided: companies are withdrawing their savings at a rapid pace while households continue to accumulate more and more money in banks despite symbolic interest rates.
In November compared to October non-financial enterprises saw a 6.7% decline in newly granted lev loans up to €1 million and a 23.2% decline in large loans over €1 million. In euro loans there’s a 13% decline in small loans but a 6% increase in loans over €1 million.
The volume of renegotiated loans and refinancing loans in levs decreased by 16.7%, while in euros the decrease was 22.9%.
Slowdown in household lending
On a monthly basis the volume of newly granted household loans also fell – by 7.2% for consumer loans and 8.6% for housing loans. For mortgage loans in BGN the average interest rate and APR on these loans increased by 0.01 percentage points to 2.48% and 2.86%, respectively.
Renegotiated consumer loans grew by 11.2%, signaling active refinancing. For housing loans there was a 0.7% decline in renegotiations compared to October.
Companies are withdrawing their money from banks
On November 1, 2025, compared to October the average interest rate on corporate deposits with agreed maturity in BGN increased by 0.03 percentage points to 1.36% while those in EUR decreased by 0.09 percentage points to 1.63%. At the same time the volume of their deposits in BGN plummeted by 52.5% and those in EUR by 40%.
For households the average interest rate on deposits with agreed maturity in BGN remained at 0.81%, while that on deposits in EUR increased by 0.03 percentage points to 1.44%. The average interest rate on deposits with agreed maturity in BGN increased by 0.01 percentage points to 0.29%, while that on deposits in EUR remained at 0.15%.
The volume of deposits with agreed maturity in BGN increased by 20.8%, and in EUR – by 3.3%.
Translated with DeepL.
