Interest rates on loans, which have been rising since autumn 2007, will continue growing, Bulgarian bankers have told Dnevnik. The upward revisions will continue over the near term but without sharp movements, Petar Andronov, chief executive officer of Economic and Investment Bank, said. No turnaround is seen over the next couple of months, he said.

The rates on household loans continued to go up in July in comparison with the year-ago period, data of the central bank showed. The average annual interest rate on consumer loans is now 11.15 per cent, up 1.79 percentage points year-on-year.

Mortgage rates have added 0.94 percentage points year-on-year to an average of 9.07 per cent. In July and early-August, most banks in Bulgaria have raised interest rates on mortgage loans, ranging between 0.1 and 0.75 percentage points, according to Tihomir Toshev, executive director at credit consultancy firm Credit Center.

The annual percentage rate (APR) on consumer loans has increased 1.42 percentage points on the year to 12.26 per cent.

The APR on housing loans has inched up 1.22 percentage points year-on-year to 9.91 per cent in July 2008.

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