site.btaBank Assets Up by 2.5% in Q3 of 2023

The assets of the banking system grew by 2.5% (BGN 4 billion) in the third quarter of 2023 and amounted to BGN 165.1 billion at the end of September, according to the Bulgarian National Bank's (BNB) quarterly publication "Banks in Bulgaria", published on the BNB's website on Thursday.

The loan portfolio and debt securities grew during the period. Deposits attracted in the banking system increased more than in the previous quarter, the analysis says.

The banking system's assets-to-GDP ratio stood at 91.1% at the end of September (compared with 92.2% at the end of June).

So far, the tightening of monetary policy in the euro area is being transmitted relatively slowly to interest rates in Bulgaria, the analysis notes.

In the third quarter of 2023, the banking system's gross loan portfolio grew by 3.2%, and the share of non-performing loans (NPLs) by gross value stood at 4.4% at the end of September (vs. 4.5% at the end of June).

As of 30 September 2023, the banking system's profit amounted to BGN 2.7 billion, BGN 1.2 billion (81.6%) more than the reported for the first nine months of 2022, with growth mainly driven by the increase in net interest income.