The interest rates on the local-currency loans of Bulgarian banks climbed back to where they were three or four years ago in September 2008, central bank statistics showed. Loan prices started sliding some three years ago when banks waged a fierce fight for customers and market shares.
The ongoing financial crisis, which dried up liquidity and inflated the cost of resources, sent rates of both loans and deposits in the opposite direction.

In 2004, the average rates of corporate loans hovered around 11 and 8% depending on currency.
In September 2008, the rates of lev-denominated loans for non-financial corporations soared to 11.25% from 9.68% a year earlier.
The average on euro-denominated loans rose to 8.42% from 7.99% in September 2007.
Local-currency consumer loans bore an average rate of 11.59%, up 2.09 percentage points on the year.

Housing loans in the same currency had an average interest rate of 9.45%, just about their early 2005 level.
Annual percentage rates rose to 12.37% for lev-denominated consumer loans and to 10.24% for mortgages, picking up a respective 1.34 and 1.22 percentage points.
APR on euro-denominated housing loans was 8.88%.

New housing and consumer loan promotions announced at the start of the active season, although much fewer than before the crisis broke out, left new loan rates unchanged or even tipped them lower than the previous month.