Handful of Clients Push Deposits in Bulgaria to New Record High

A woman looks on in front of the central office of UniCredit Bulbank in Sofia. UniCredit Bulbank is the biggest bank in Bulgaria. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Bulgarian banks have recorded a fresh and significant growth in deposits in September thanks to a slim 5% of its Bulgarian clients, as well as Greek and Romanian nationals, who rush to stash their savings here.

The deposits of citizens in local banks increased by BGN 496 M in September 2011 in comparison with a decrease by BGN 25 M during the same month a year ago, official data shows.

Thus the total amount of deposits of citizens hit a record-high BGN 30.53 B at the end of September 2011, marking an annual increase by BGN 3.8 B.

The savings of companies (other than credit institutions) however decreased in September by BGN 111 B to BGN 20.96 B.

There was however no break-down of the figures into Bulgarian and foreign-owned accounts.

The ratio between credits and deposits shows clearly however that over two thirds of the money deposited in banks are in the hands of just 5% of the households in the country.

Analysts say that Bulgarians' willingness to put aside regular savings shrinks consumption even further and slows down the country's economic growth.