Household loans in Bulgaria jumped 20.8% year-on-year in August, reaching 32.637 billion euros, figures from the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) and the European Central Bank show, distributed by BTA. Across the whole eurozone, household loans grew just 3.1% over the same period.
The pace in Bulgaria held steady from July. Home loans reached 19.328 billion euros, up 25.2% on the year, a touch slower than July's 25.7%.
Consumer loans went the other way, picking up speed to reach 12.286 billion euros, or 15.9% growth on the year, up from 15.4% the month before. Only loans to employers and the self-employed fell, down 8.1% to 255.7 million euros.
Lending to non-financial companies also sped up. These loans reached 29.256 billion euros, up 13.7% from August last year, compared with 13% in July.
Total loans to households and businesses — what the BNB calls the non-government sector — reached 66.994 billion euros, up 16.7% on the year. A month earlier, growth stood at 16.5%.
Savings are rising too. Deposits from households and the bodies that serve them reached 57.191 billion euros, up 17.2% on the year, slightly slower than July's 17.8%. Business deposits sped up, reaching 28.347 billion euros, growth of 12.7% compared with 10.8% in July. In total, deposits from households and companies in Bulgaria reached 87.696 billion euros, up 15.4% on the year.
The eurozone looks steadier. Household loans there grew 3.1%, the same as in July. Home loans also rose 3.1%, while consumer loan growth eased slightly to 5% from 5.1% the month before.
Loans to non-financial companies in the eurozone grew 4.2% on the year, down from 4.4% in July. Overall private-sector lending there sped up to 4.3%, from 4.1% a month earlier.
The August figures predate 10 September, when the ECB raised its three main interest rates by 25 basis points each. The deposit facility rate, which sets the direction of monetary policy in the eurozone, rose to 2.5%.