Page 80 - bne IntelliNews Southeastern Europe Outlook 2025

(the numerator of the NSFR) was BGN144.1bn, and the required stable funding (the denominator of the NSFR) was BGN88.7bn.
Gross loans and advances in October stood at BGN118bn, increasing by 1.5 m/m. Claims on credit institutions increased by 4.4% m/m to BGN10.1bn, while the gross loan portfolio grew by 1.3% m/m to BGN107.9bn. Loans to households increased by BGN800mn, those to non-financial corporations by BGN658mn and to other financial corporations by BGN67mn. Loans to the general government sector increased by BGN20mn m/m.
The deposits in the banking system decreased by 0.2% m/m to BGN154.7bn. Deposits of households increased by 1.1% m/m, while those of credit institutions fell by 9.6% m/m.
The banks' total assets increased to BGN32bn at the end of October to BGN182.4bn.
5.3.3 Industry
In 2025, Bulgarian industry will be widely affected by the economic stagnation across Europe caused by the Russian war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East. Meanwhile, the deepening political crisis and widespread corruption are affecting the business environment, according to a survey of the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA).
The outlook of businesspeople for 2025 also is negative, according to the survey.
In 2024, just 15% of the respondents saw an improvement in the business climate, while 24% reported that the condition of their companies has improved.
“Compared to the previous year, there is barely noticeable optimism in the estimates, but the effects of the crisis are visible,” BIA said.
It added that the results of the survey showed insecurity and lack of predictability for 2025 due to ongoing global conflicts, new regulatory requirements that are changing constantly, political instability and other factors.
The survey showed that 90% of businesspeople do not trust the parliament, 79% lack trust in government and 73% in the judiciary.
The biggest obstacles to businesses in Bulgaria are the lack of labour force (68%), bureaucracy and regulatory burdens (60%), frequently changing regulations (47%) and corruption (47%). However, political instability is also becoming a serious problem (42%), as well as the inefficient judicial system (35%), the low quality of administrative services and the insufficient number of administrative electronic services (31%).
The real estate sector is seen as unpredictable, according to an analysis by real estate brokerage Address. Despite that, the expectations for 2025 are that the market, dominated in 2024 by the demands of buyers, will be more balanced. Property purchasing
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