The number of deposit millionaires goes up
Rich Bulgarians continue to save money in deposit accounts in the banks. Thus for the last 12 months the number of the deposit millionaires has gone up by 106 people. Their number has gone up by 40 people for the last 3 months only. According to data from the Bulgarian National Bank, the number of bank deposits of 500 000 Euros and above has reached almost 600. There is an average of 2.45 million leva in each deposit, and their total amount has reached the record-breaking 1.46 billion leva. So the money of the rich turned out to be more than the multiple small savings of the population.
This trend proves the theory that bank deposits continue to be preferred by the Bulgarians as a way to save money, because they bring the depositors some small profit in the times of crisis. Thus the profit of the Bulgarian households has reached 662 million leva for the last 3 months. According to BNB this is the sum paid by the banks as an interest over all the deposits of the citizens. On top of that this is tax free money. It turns out that the bank deposits grow by some 300 million leva each month. According to top bankers in Bulgaria the trend will continue till the end of this year, but will gradually slow down. Along with the higher number of deposit millionaires the National Bank marks an increase of deposits of 100 000 to 500 000 leva. The number of these deposits has gone up by 36% in the first half of 2012.
How does the situation with bank loans look like? According to data from the national bank, the Bulgarians prefer to save and earn from the interest rates rather than take out bank loans. The amount of consumer credits has fallen by some 220 million leva ( 113 Mn Eur) in the last 6 months, which is a decrease of 1.2%. People usually take out between 13 and 15 000 Euros. An increase has been marked only in this interval, which means that the Bulgarians does not like to risk with bigger loans, because they realize that it is very difficult to return this money in times of crisis. There was only 1 brave man who drew a credit of over 1 million leva for the last few months. Thus the total number of such credits has reached 110. The credit millionaires have slightly increased in number for the last 12 months and the total amount of their credits has reached 116 million Euros.
The business has also followed the market trend. In the last few years a great part of the companies’ capital has been invested as bank deposits in a form of personal deposits rather than company ones. The reason behind that is that such kinds of deposits bring higher profits from interest rates. Bankers reckon that the new deposit millionaires are heads of companies, who have diverted funds from their companies into their personal accounts, because of the higher profits. Despite that, the company deposits of over 500 000 Euros has gone up by 139 for the last 12 months to the sum of 7.7 billion leva ( 4 Bn Euro). Even in times of crisis the business has also taken out credits of over 500 000 Euros. Such bank loans are only 22 for the last 1 year but it is still something bearing in mind the collapse in consumption and manifacture. How this money will be used is another story. BNB reports that the total volume of the credits allotted to companies has increased by 4 %. The amounts are small though, which means companies now need mainly working capital to cover the most urgent expenses. For the time being the investments in new produce and higher development are delayed and the companies are waiting for better days.
Text: www.bnr.bg
Photo:www.klassa.bg