Households with monthly income below 1,000 leva (511 euros) have taken 59% of all credits in Bulgaria, shows reserach by Credit Center. 29% of all credits were given to households whose monthly income is less than 500 leva (255 euros), 7% to households with income of less than 2,000 leva (1022 euros), and 5% to such with more than 2,000 leva.

The importance of assessing a client's eligibility to credit is increasing. Usually the two main criteria in assessing eligibility are :

-debt-income ratio to be about 60%
-after covering the monthly installment, there must be between 100-200 leva left available per adult, and between 50-100 leva per child

If we assume that a bank requires 120 leva left per adult, and 60 leva per child, that means a family of four (two adults and two children) may borrow up to 50,000 leva (25,564 euros) with a monthly installment of 470 leva, if their household income is at least 830 leva.

However, financial advisors say a family's installment should not take more than 50% of its income.

There are still families in Bulgaria which spend 70% of monthly income to service debt. This is considered too risky, and experts warn that these households may experience severe financial problems over the following 1-3 years.

Credit Center breaks down the data in terms of cities as shown in the table below:

CityAverage size of creditLeva/Euro Proportion In %Sofia3910042/58Varna3990028/72Burgas3420038/62Plovdiv3140037/63Stara Zagora2737233/67Ruse2700058/42Blagoevgrad2130074/26Sliven1870075/25Yambol1880072/28

% of credits taken by sizeAmount in BGNBetween 01/01/2007 to 30/06/2007 0 to 20 000 2,94%20 000 to 40 00027,71%40 000 to 60 00031,69%60 000 to 80 00016,74%80 000 to 100 0009,76%More than 100 00011,16%