Bulgaria's base interest rate (BIR) was 4.10% in August, which is 1.30 percentage points up versus August 2006, Bulgarian National Bank said Friday.

The average interest rate on interbank deposits in BGN in August 2007 reached 4.16%, which is 1.17 percentage points up compared to the same month of the previous year.

Yield to maturity on BGN long-term government securities on the secondary market rose by 0.66 percentage points to 4.28% year-on-year..

The long-term interest rate for convergence purposes (LTIR) in August 2007 was 4.79%, or 0.13 percentage points up from August 2006.

The average interest rates on BGN-denominated loans of the Non-financial Corporations sector agreed in August 2007 were higher compared to August 2006. The average interest rate on overdraft rose 2.89 percentage points to 8.75%, on short-term loans - by 0.70 percentage points to 8.99%, and on long-term loans - by 0.62 percentage points to 9.32%.

In August 2007, compared to August 2006, the average interest rates on BGN denominated overdraft on loans of the Households sector declined 0.04 percentage points to 13.40%. The average interest rate levels agreed on BGN -denominated long-term loans are lower - the interest rates on loans for house purchases declined 0.40 percentage points to 8.35%, on consumer loans by 0.79 percentage points to 9.31%, and on other loans by 0.89 percentage points to 11.85%.

The average interest rates on BGN-denominated overnight deposits of the Non-financial corporations sector rose 0.16 percentage points to 0.65%. The average interest rates
on time deposits with maturity of up to 1 month in BGN increased by 0.79 percentage points to 3.79%

The average interest rates on BGN -denominated overnight deposits to the Households sector rose 0.06 percentage points to 0.92%. The average interest rates on time deposits with maturity of up to 1 month in BGN increased by 0.51 percentage points y/y to 3.70% in August 2007, and the interest rates on deposits redeemable at notice by 0.20 percentage points to 2.56%.