Bulgarian banking sector profits reached 855 million leva, or 60 per cent rise on annual basis, over the first nine months of 2007.The record-breaking amounts of loans granted by the banks in July and August 2007 managed to compensate for the more moderate ones in September, Dnevnik daily reported.

As a consequence, the amounts of loans and takings for the third quarter of 2007 registered their biggest absolute growth, by 2.8 billion leva, statistics of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) show.

Another balance index that increased by almost 50 per cent for the period July – September 2007 was the central banks financial funds reserves. The growth resulted from the four per cent rise in the obligatory minimal reserves which banks must maintain at the BNB, introduced in September 2007.

According to interest rate statistics announced on November 1 2007, in September household credits marked an insignificant price rise and corporate loans were offered at even lower medium interest rates as compared to the ones in August.

In the end of September 2007, credits amounted to 40 billion leva, registering a 7.8 per cent growth for the past three months. Corporate loans increased by 2.2 billion leva and physical entities' credits by 1.3 billion.

Main interest rates kept growing in November, reaching 4.26 per cent. As the main interest rates in the country follow those in the euro zone, a rise could be expected in December as well. The European Central Bank was expected to announce another interest rates rise during its meeting in the beginning of November 2007.