Loans to businesses and households by the end of September are already BGN 60.7 billion, the BNB reported. They increased by 7.1% in one year. Just over 1/3 of them - BGN 23.4 billion - were received by households. Mortgage loans are fastest growing - they are now BGN 10.4 billion, which is 13.6% more than in September 2018. Consumer loans amount to BGN 11.1 billion and their annual growth is 10, 9%. Although slightly slower, deposits are also increasing. By end-September total savings were BGN 82.4 billion, up 7.9% year-on-year. Household deposits increased by 8.2% to BGN 53.9 billion. Money in circulation is close to GDP - BGN 99.2 billion. They increased by 8.1% compared to last year, experts report. Dimitar Radev. Net foreign assets increased by 5.1% to BGN 68.8 billion, while liabilities decreased by 1.2% to BGN 9.6 billion for the year. Loans of BGN 399.5 million and repurchased loans amount to BGN 11.4 million

Monetary supply in Bulgaria grew by 8.3% yoy in September, according to data from monetary statistics of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB). In September 2019, broad money (monetary aggregate M3) increased on an annual basis by 8.3%, compared to 7.7% annual growth in August 2019. At the end of September 2019, broad money was BGN 99.207 billion (85.7% of GDP) compared to BGN 98.507 billion as of August 2019 (85.1% of GDP). Their fastest liquid component, the monetary aggregate M1, increased in September 2019 by 12.8% yoy. At the end of September 2019, the deposits of the non-governmental sector amounted to BGN 82.375 billion, an annual increase of 7.9%. Deposits of Non-financial corporations amounted to BGN 25.377 billion at the end of September 2019. Compared to the same month of 2018, they increased by 6.4%. Deposits of financial corporations increased by 17.2% yoy in September 2019 and reached BGN 3.111 billion at the end of the month (2.7% of GDP). Deposits of Households and NPISHs amounted to BGN 53.887 billion (46.6% of GDP) at the end of September 2019. They increase by 8.2% compared to the same month of 2018.

Bulgartransgaz has obtained a bank loan for EUR 200 million for constructions works of the Balkan Stream pipeline, the company said, reporting the successful completion of the borrowing procedure. The money will be used for advance payments to the companies working on the project, Arkad Consortium and Ferrostaal Balkangas. The EUR 200 million loan is secured by means of six-month US dollar deposits which can be extended by another six months. Bulgartransgaz said it already has signed agreements with major financial institutions, including Citibank Europe, ING Bank, UniCredit BulBank, and the International Bank for Economic Cooperation. The advance payment to Arkad Consortium which is already building the pipeline amounts to BGN 250 million and BGN 50 million VAT, and to Ferrostaal Balkangas which is building the two gas compressor stations, Rassovo and Nova Provadia, BGN 140 million and BGN 28 million VAT.

Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) transferred the amount of BGN 41.5 million to the project company ICGB JSC for capital increase. The decision was made on October 10 by the General Meeting of Shareholders of the project company (BEH and IGI Poseidon). The funds will be used to finance the construction of the Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) gas interconnector. To secure the money, BEH took a government guaranteed loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) up to BGN 215 million. The projected investment cost of the project is estimated at EUR 240 million excluding VAT. The European Commission approved State aid for Gas Interconnection Greece - Bulgaria (IGB) with its decision of 8 November 2018.

The Cabinet adopted a decision for Bulgarian Posts SPJSC to carry out the activity of distribution and sale of printed matter on the territory of the country. The Minister for Transport, Information Technology and Communications is instructed to take the necessary steps, including if necessary to initiate legislative changes. Bulgarian Posts SPJSC is a sole proprietorship with 100% state participation in the capital. The company also has the necessary infrastructure network and human resources. This will ensure effective distribution of print publications throughout the country. This makes it possible to diversify distribution without restricting competition.

Bulgaria's Groupama Insurance, a unit of France's Groupama Group, intends to start offering nine types of insurance policies on the Romanian market, Bulgaria's Financial Supervision Commission said. Groupama Insurance is planning to offer the following insurance policies - accident, sickness, goods in transit, land vehicles, fire and natural forces, other property damages, motor third party liability, miscellaneous financial losses, and travel assistance, the Financial Supervision Commission said in a statement on Tuesday. Groupama entered the Bulgarian market in 2008.

Bulgarian fuel and building materials retailer Toplivo has closed its branch in the city of Stara Zagora. All documents concerning the closing of Toplivo's Stara Zagora branch have been entered into the commercial register. Earlier this year, Toplivo closed its branch in Blagoevgrad, while last year it closed its branches in Ruse, Varna and Pleven as part of its ongoing administrative restructuring. In the first half of 2019, Toplivo narrowed its consolidated net loss to BGN 2.5 million from BGN 4.0 million in the same period of 2018, due to a decrease in expenses. Toplivo is majority owned by local diversified group Synergon Holding.

German car parts manufacturer Brose plans to invest 180 million euro ($200 million) in the construction of a factory in Pancevo, in northern Serbia, the Serbian government has said. The company also plans to launch a research and development (R&D) centre in Serbia, the government said in a statement on Tuesday. "The company will open a factory for electric motors for controllers with 1,100 employees and 460 of them will be highly-qualified engineers," Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in a video file posted on the website of news agency Tanjug. The average net pay at the factory will be about 1,700 euro, Vucic said following the signing of an agreement for the project by representatives of Brose and the Serbian economy ministry. Brose is active in the production of electronic motors, as well as door and seat systems. The company has 26,000 employees working at 63 locations in 23 countries, according to data from the corporate website.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York injected $99.9 billion in temporary liquidity and $7.5 billion in permanent reserves into financial markets. The short-term intervention came via $64.90 billion in overnight repurchase agreements with eligible banks, and with a $35 billion repo operation that will run through Nov. 5. The banks didn’t take all the liquidity offered by the Fed in the overnight repo operation, but they offered more than the Fed would take for the term operation, with $52.2 billion submitted to the Fed. The Fed’s purchase of Treasury bills, designed to boost the size of its nearly $4 trillion balance sheet, drew good interest from banks, which sought to sell the central bank $41.472 billion in short-dated government debt. Tuesday’s intervention is part of an effort to help tame volatility in short-term rate markets with temporary and permanent injections of liquidity. The Fed’s repo operations take in Treasury and mortgage securities from eligible banks in what is effectively a loan of central bank cash, collateralized by dealer-owned bonds. The Fed’s bill buying permanently increases the size of the Fed’s holdings and further ensures money markets operate smoothly.

China’s imports of semi-finished steel surged in September as a crackdown on scrap shipments saw Chinese buyers scoop up alternative forms of the metal from other Asian countries at favorable prices. The world’s biggest steel producer and consumer last month took in 370,000 tonnes of steel semis from overseas, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs on Wednesday. That was up 418% year-on-year and marked the highest monthly total in records on the customs website going back to June 2014. It was also up from 260,000 tonnes in August. China tightened restrictions on scrap metal imports from July 1, as part of a sweeping campaign against “foreign garbage”. It bought less than 10,000 tonnes of steel scrap in September and merely 180,000 tonnes in the first nine months of 2019, down 83.7% from a year earlier. Semi-finished steel product imports, mostly consisting of steel billets, meanwhile rose 53.1% year-on-year in the first three quarters to 1.37 million tonnes, customs data showed. China bought 1.1 million tonnes of finished steel products in September, up from 970,000 tonnes in August and 840,000 tonnes in July, the customs data showed.