The Base Interest Rate in Bulgaria stood at 4.75% in February 2008, up by 1.22 percentage points compared to February 2007, data of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) show.

The LEONIA Reference Rate amounted to 4.83% during the month, rising by 1.31 percentage points on February 2007.

In February 2008 the one-month SOFIBOR Reference Rate rose by 2.60 percentage points to 6.35% compared to February of the previous year, and that for 3-month maturity rose by 2.56 percentage points to 6.65%. The 6-months SOFIBOR Reference Rate stood at 6.88% and that for 12- month maturity – 7.56%.

The yield to maturity on BGN three-year and five-year government securities on the secondary market rose by 0.63 percentage points to 4.54% and 0.86 percentage points to 4,57% respectively In February 2008, compared to the same month of the previous year.

The long-term interest rate (LTIR) was 5.24% in February 2008 rising by 1.00 percentage points compared to February 2007.

In February compared to the same month of the previous year the average interest rate on loans up to 1 million EUR increased by 1.16 percentage points to 10.49% and that on loans over 1 million EUR – by 1.36 percentage points to 9.28%.

The average interest rate on consumer loans and on other loans increased respectively by 0.21 percentage points to 10.18% and by 0.63 percentage points to 13.03% in February 2008, compared to February 2007. The same indicator decreased by 0.17 percentage points to 8.23% for loans for house purchases.

The Annual percentage rate of charge on consumer loans stood at 11.36% in February 2008, rising by 0.33 percentage points compared to February 2007. The Annual percentage rate of charge on loans for house purchases was 9.01%, decreasing 0.20 percentage points.

The average interest rate on deposits with agreed maturity for the Non-financial corporations sector stood at 4.64% last month, rising by 1.07 percentage points on February 2007. The average interest rate on deposits with agreed maturity of the households compared to February 2007 increased by 0.51 percentage points to 4.71%.

In February 2008 the average interest rate on overdraft for the Non-financial corporations sector was 9.32%, rising by 1.01 percentage points on February 2007. The same indicator on loans other than overdraft increased by 0.32 percentage points to 9.94%.

In February the average interest rate on overdraft for the Households sector decreased by 0.41 percentage points to 13.62%. The same indicator on consumer loans decreased by 0.96 percentage points to 10.67% while those on loans for house purchases and on other loans increased by 0.18 percentage points to 8.80% and by 0.29 percentage points to 12.41% respectively.

The average interest rate on overnight deposits for the Non-financial corporations sector increased by 0.03 percentage points to 0.63%, compared to the same month of the previous year and that on deposits with agreed maturity increased by 0.36 percentage points to 4.07%. The average interest rate on deposits redeemable at notice increased by 0.04 percentage points to 2.81%.

The average interest rate on overnight deposits for the Households sector increased by 0.07 percentage points to 0.93 % compared to the same month of the previous year and that on deposits with agreed maturity increased by0.29 percentage points to 4.71%. The average interest rate on deposits redeemable at notice increased by 0.39 percentage points to 3.00%.