Banks offer cheaper loans, according to BNB data. Interest on consumer loans to households in BGN decreased by 0.35 percentage points to 8.26% in April compared to a year earlier, and on those in EUR - by 0.70 pp to 3.77%. There is also a decrease in the interest rates on mortgages, which in BGN reached 3.18%, while those in EUR - 2.95%. Decrease was also observed on a monthly basis in April against March 2019. The average interest rate on consumer loans in EUR decreased by 0.69 pp and in BGN increased by 0.19 pp. In the case of housing loans in BGN it decreased by 0.01 pp and in EUR - by 0.04 pp. Banks have also shrunk credit costs, BNB reported. The annual percentage rate of charge (APR) on consumer loans fell to 10.13% in April, which was 0.38 pp less than a year earlier. In BGN mortgages the decrease is 0.34 pp to 3.53%. The business also takes cheaper loans, and for loans up to BGN 1 million the interest is up to 4.22%, and those agreed in EUR - up to 2.45%. For those over BGN 1 million, the cost is up to 3.41% and in EUR to 3.06%. At the same time, despite the low interest rates on deposits, they rose in April compared to March 2019. With BGN savings, the growth was by 0.02 pp and that in euro - 0.01 pp.

At 4 per cent, Bulgaria had the EU's fifth lowest share of temporary employment in 2018, Eurostat data show. The EU average for temporary employees aged 15-64 was 14.1 per cent of the total number of employees in this age group. The other EU Member States with less than 5 per cent of their employees in temporary jobs in 2018 were Romania (1.1 per cent), Lithuania (1.6 per cent), Latvia (2.7 per cent) and Estonia (3.5 per cent). Bulgaria had some 130,000 temporary employees out of an economically active population of 3.2 million in 2018. Some 100,000 of those employees were aged 25-55. In the EU as a whole, the proportion of employees in temporary employment was higher among younger employees. For those aged 15 to 24 the share was 43.3 per cent, compared with 12.1 per cent for those aged 25 to 54, and 6.6 per cent for those aged 55 to 64. Temporary jobs in Bulgaria were taken predominantly by people with primary or lower education (80,000 jobs), secondary education (40,000 jobs) and higher education (nearly 10,000 jobs).

Velocity Minerals Ltd. announces that it has entered into an option agreement with Bulgarian partner Gorubso Kardzhali JSC to acquire a 70% interest in the 194-hectare Nadezhda property, which includes the Makedontsi gold project; a geological resource registered on the Bulgarian State balance. Under the terms of the option agreement, Velocity can earn a 70% interest by delivering a mineral resource estimate prepared under National Instrument 43-101. The Makedontsi deposit is located in southeast Bulgaria, approximately 10km by road from Gorubso’s modern CIL processing plant. The deposit is open for expansion and requires systematic exploration to investigate its full potential and to deliver a mineral resource estimate. Concurrent with and building upon the Company’s Rozino prefeasibility activities, a program of modern integrated exploration is planned in order to assess ‘blind’ mineralization amenable to open pit mining under a thin post mineralization limestone cover sequence.

Germany's national railway carrier Deutsche Ваhn is in the process of buying the locomotive depot for repair of railway wagons and railway equipment, VRZ- Karlovo. The investor had a meeting with Economy Minister Emil Karaivanov and the mayor of the city. However, the procedure has not yet been finalized. The German company has won the tender for the sale of the plant that had been bankrupt years ago, but the deal is not yet over, the company's trustee said. According to the announcement, the initial auction price for all the assets of the enterprise, including buildings, properties and railway switches, was BGN 4 million. The plans of Deutsche Ваhn are to restore the production and repair of freight wagons, and after time the repair and maintenance of locomotives. In 2015 the plant was declared bankrupt by the court. Its debts amounted to nearly BGN 45 million, while its assets are estimated at BGN 23.5 million. This shows the company's last financial report for 2017 published in the Commercial Register. VRZ- Karlovo has debts to banks, companies, state institutions and salaries of around 250 workers.

BDZ is pushing one of the "fattest" public procurement contracts that has been running since the beginning of 2017. It is about the repair of the diesel and electric Siemens wagons, owned by BDZ - Passenger Transports. The value of the order is BGN 137 million, excluding VAT. Last Thursday, the holding invited the Romanian branch of French giant Alstom and the Hungarian division of the Swiss Stadler to direct negotiations. Their bids will be open on July 24. The large sum is for 5 years of technical support for 22 diesel and 24 electric wagons. The order was blocked for a long time by a series of scandals. During the previous procedure, the manufacturer Siemens and Express Service - the factory in Ruse, which deals with railway repairs, were disqualified. The Bulgarian enterprise was cut off on the grounds that it did not have the required certificate from the Railway Infrastructure Executive Agency. Express Service has said they could repair the wagons at a much lower price. Siemens was removed as it had named Express Service as a subcontractor.

Bulgartransgaz EAD has selected a new contractor for the construction of the gas pipeline between Provadia (Northeastern Bulgaria) and the border with Serbia, Bulgartransgaz Executive Director Vladimir Malinov said. The pipeline will be constructed by the DZZD Consortium Gas Development and Expansion in Bulgaria, which includes one company from Italy, Germany, and Luxembourg each. The project is worth EUR 1,102,197,333.19 exclusive of VAT. The company initially ranked first in the public procurement procedure - Saudi Arabia's Association Consortium Arkad - did not submit documents either before the legal deadline or before the extended deadline requested by the company, Malinov explained. The consortium provided only 4 out of the 30 documents required. The newly selected contractor initially offered a high price for the project's implementation, but on May 17 said it is willing to reduce the price by 31.5 per cent, thus making it slightly lower than that offered by Arkad.

Bulgarian car battery manufacturer Monbat said that its consolidated profit before taxes soared by 350.8% on the year to BGN 8.1 million in the first four months of 2019. The company’s consolidated net sales revenue rose by 29.5% year-on-year to BGN 111 million in January-April, mostly on the back of revenues from production. Monbat’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by an annual 77.6% to BGN 14.7 million in the period under review. In April alone, Monbat generated a pre-tax profit of BGN 770,000, 336.9% higher compared to the same month of 2018. Net sales revenue increased by an annual 50.9% to BGN 27.5 million, whereas EBITDA more than doubled by 167.8% on the year to BGN 2,922. Monbat's consolidated net profit shrank to BGN 2.8 million last year from BGN 31.2 million in 2017 due to a drop in revenue by 9.5% to BGN 298.1 million.

German banking authorities will require the country’s banks to set aside more provisions from July to cover risks stemming from a pumped up domestic property market and slowing economy, the country’s financial authorities said on Monday. The Financial Stability Board - compromised of officials from the BaFin supervisor, the Finance Ministry, and the Bundesbank national central bank - said German banks combined need to set aside 5.3 billion euros ($5.9 billion) more in core capital. Felix Hufeld, president of Germany’s BaFin banking watchdog, said banks will have a 12-month timeframe to implement the countercyclical capital buffer, starting from July 1. The step is meant as a precaution as regulators see “no concrete signs of acute risks for financial stability” in Germany, Deputy Finance Minister Joerg Kukies told a news conference in Berlin. The financial authorities are responding to recent growth in lending in Germany that has outstripped the pace of expansion in the economy as a whole. The provisions are aimed at preventing banks from sharply reining in their lending during a downturn, and thereby aggravating it. The Finance Ministry said Germany’s banks should be able to meet the requirements “predominantly from existing surplus capital”.

Vietnam was one of the fastest-growing sources of American imports from Asia last quarter, and could potentially overtake the U.K. as a bigger supplier to the U.S. if it keeps up that pace. Imports from the Southeast Asian economy jumped 40.2% in the first three months of 2019 from a year earlier, while orders from South Korea rose 18.4%, latest U.S. Census Bureau data show. At the same time, American imports of Chinese goods plunged 13.9% as trade tensions heated up. If Vietnam’s pace of growth can be sustained for a full year -- which would be a major feat -- it could leapfrog Italy, France, the U.K., and India in the ranks of top exporters to the U.S. India would improve two spots and France by one if they keep growing at the same pace for the rest of the year. Ireland would slip by four, and the U.K. and Italy each would drop two. Vietnam has become a standout in a region where the world’s export engines largely are hurting amid trade-war tensions and a slowing electronics cycle. Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan all saw export contractions in April, while in the same month Vietnam’s exports gained 7.5% from a year earlier.

Japan’s government said on Monday that high-tech industries will be added to a list of businesses for which foreign ownership of Japanese firms is restricted. The new rule, effective Aug. 1, comes amid heightening pressure from the United States in dealing with cyber-security risks and technological transfers involving China. The Japanese government made no mention of specific countries or companies that will be impacted by applying existing foreign ownership restrictions to the IT and telecoms industries. The announcement came on the same day visiting U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are holding talks in Tokyo on trade and other issues. The United States has warned countries against using Chinese technology, saying Huawei Technologies could be used by Beijing to spy on the West. China and Huawei have strongly rejected the allegations.