Starting December 15, taxes for transfers in euro to EU countries have fallen up to 10 times. According to the EU regulation, Bulgarian banks have to equalize their fees for transfers abroad with those within the country. Travelers abroad will also benefit because ATM withdrawal fees should be the same as in Bulgaria. These amendments were also recorded in the Payment Services Act, which was recently adopted at first reading by the National Assembly. Until now, Bulgarian consumers had to pay a fee between BGN 30 and 60 to Bulgarian banks in order to transfer EUR 10 to another EU country. Indeed, the largest banks in Bulgaria were charging around BGN 30-40 for outgoing cross-border transfers in EUR within the European Economic Area, for small amounts. Reducing the cost of transfers abroad will be offset by an increase in bank fees at national level. For several months the monthly fee on a current account has increased from BGN 2.50 to BGN 3. For servicing a savings account, the fee has increased from BGN 2 to BGN 2.50. There is no fee for cash deposits - up to BGN 3000, but for larger amounts a percentage is deducted. On withdrawal - fees vary between 0.35% and 0.60%. On the counter - fees for intra-bank transfers increase from BGN 1.50 to BGN 2, and inter-bank fees - to BGN 4.

Workers no longer need to take earnings notes for their income from all the companies where they worked during the year. Even if they file their annual tax return on paper, they no longer need to apply the notes from the employer. People can receive such notes just for their information. And if they file their annual tax return online, any information on their received income will automatically be filled out. The new eased way of filing tax returns is possible thanks to changes in tax laws, the NRA said during the National Revenue Agency's seminar 2020.

The Bulgarian Investment Agency and the managers of Korean-Chinese company Songuo Motors and Italian Hadid Holding signed a memorandum for the building of an e-vehicle construction plant in Bulgaria. The two companies declared in the memorandum their intention to build such plant for USD 200 million. The plant will create 2,000 jobs, but there is no clarity on the construction schedule and the plant’s launch date. Songuo Motors’ CEO Shin Yongbok said the company will invest for the first time in Bulgaria and was confident that the project will be completed.

ContourGlobal Maritsa East 3, which operates Bulgaria's thermal power plant (TPP) Maritsa Iztok 3, said that it has signed a BGN 2.1 million deal to purchase a three phase power transformer from Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Bulgaria. The power plant operator did not provide further details. Last month, South Korean electrical equipment maker Hyundai Electric said that it has decided to sell its unit Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Bulgaria for USD 24.5 million. Hyundai Electric decided to go through with the asset sale in order to improve its financial structure.

The Swiss-based company Nespresso, which produces coffee machines, coffee capsules and accessories, has entered the Bulgarian market. The first Nestlé-owned brand store was opened at Paradise Center in partnership with the official Nespresso distributor in Bulgaria, the Essef1 coffee company. Their goal is to expand the store network in the capital and other major cities in the country.

Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria will refinance with EUR 6 million a loan received by Arco Invest, the local unit of Estonian real estate group Arco Vara, from Piraeus Bank for the construction of Madrid Blvd residential building in Sofia. Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria and Arco Invest have signed a loan agreement with a term of approximately five years. "The new loan agreement foresees modest quarterly repayments with one larger repayment in October 2024. The interest rate of the loan decreased," Arco Vara said. The loan for the Madrid Blvd project from Piraeus Bank was becoming due at the end of 2019. "Refinancing the Madrid Blvd loan has been one of the strategic objectives of Arco Vara, which has now been achieved after filling the building with paying tenants. With that milestone, approximately one quarter of the Group's balance sheet and approximately half of the Group's liabilities have been stabilized for the next five years," Tarmo Sild, CEO of Arco Vara, commented. The servicing of the loan will be cheaper which in turn will increase the amount of money remaining in shareholders' hands starting from 2020 and onwards.

Currentlythe the last obstacle on the way to ERM II and the banking union for Bulgaria are the plans for capitalization of two banks, according to Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov. In the summer, the ECB found a shortage in First Investment Bank (FIB) and Investbank, and in October they presented their ideas on how to compensate for it, as Frankfurt asks to see progress within six months up to April 2020. Documents in the Commercial Register for the smaller of the two institutions show that it has already started actions and will soon convert EUR 20 million of subordinated term debt into equity, which would cover about 40% of the capital shortfall. Investbank is signaling that it has a plan how to secure the rest - by going to the stock market. Investbank already had plans to become a public company in 2007-2008, when it even reached to an approved prospectus for initial public offering to raise between BGN 59 million and BGN 72 million. Due to the boom in lending, locally owned banks were in dire need of capital , and the euphoria on BSE guaranteed investor interest. Investbank, however, slowed down and with the onset of the global crisis, stock indices collapsed and the capital market literally froze. Now Investbank is making another move to BSE because of the need for capital.

European leaders welcomed that Boris Johnson’s expected election victory provided clarity on Britain’s withdrawal from the EU, but said it would be challenging to agree a post-Brexit trade deal by the end of 2020. Exit polls showed Johnson’s Conservative Party would enjoy a majority of 86 seats in the 650-seat British parliament. “It is a very clear result - it will not change by tomorrow morning,” Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven told reporters in Brussels after the first day of an EU summit. “It means that we will move forward with our separation now. We now have 11 months to hash out a deal (on the future trade agreement). It’s a very short time,” he said.“The most important thing with Brexit is not the way we divorce, it’s what we build afterwards,” France’s European affairs minister Amelie de Montchalin told reporters. Britain and the EU have to negotiate a trade deal by the end of 2020 because that is when a transition period for Britain’s withdrawal ends. Without a new deal, trade relations between London and its biggest trading partner - the EU - could be based on basic to World Trade Organization terms.

U.S. retail sales increased less than expected in November as Americans cut back on discretionary spending, which could see economists dialing back economic growth forecasts for the fourth quarter. The Commerce Department said on Friday retail sales rose 0.2% last month. Data for October was revised up to show retail sales increasing 0.4% instead of gaining 0.3% as previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales would accelerate 0.5% in November. Compared to November last year, retail sales increased 3.3%. Excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, retail sales edged up 0.1% last month after rising by an unrevised 0.3% in October. The so-called core retail sales correspond most closely with the consumer spending component of gross domestic product. Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, grew at a 2.9% annualized rate in the third quarter. The economy expanded at a 2.1% pace in the July-September period. Last month’s small increase in core retail sales could see economists lower their GDP growth estimates for the fourth quarter, which are currently converging around a rate of 1.8%.

China's economy has defied growing risks and downward pressure this year, with "sustained and sound development" as summed up by a key annual economic meeting concluded Thursday. The country's GDP expanded 6.2 percent year on year in the first three quarters of 2019, the fastest growth among all economies with annual output above 1 trillion U.S. dollars. Employment has been stable, manufacturing activity has rebounded, while foreign trade and direct investment inflows are continuing to grow. "The basic trend of the Chinese economy maintaining steady growth toward long-term sound development remains unchanged," according to the Central Economic Work Conference. To find the key to China's resilience, one has to delve into its economic system, observers said. China's capability of navigating through external and domestic headwinds reflects the time-tested wisdom of creating synergy between the socialist system and the market economy.