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Bulgaria moots fixed early loan repayment fee

Tue, Sep 08 2009 13:10 CET 1390 Views
Bulgarian consumer loan borrowers will be charged an early repayment fee of between 0.5 and one per cent on loans with a fixed interest rate, according to a new bill drafted by a working group from the Economy Ministry and the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB).

The 0.5 per cent fee will apply to loans repaid with less than a year from the maturity of the loan. The fee will be one per cent if customers repay their loan with more than 12 months left.

The proposals are modeled on the respective European directive, said Daniela Bobeva, International Relations and European Integration head at the central bank. Banks will not be allowed to charge for early repayment of loans with floating interest rates, which are the bulk of their credit portfolios.

If passed, the new bill should also regulate mortgages by forcing banks to adopt a single mechanism of calculating and announcing the annual percentage rate (APR). But details are yet to be agreed as ARP excludes notary and insurance fees, which are part and parcel of the total credit cost, and is therefore potentially misleading for borrowers.

Source: Dnevnik

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