BNB introduces higher reserve stipulation
In an attempt to cool lending, for the first time in more than 15 years, the Bulgarian National Bank has used its strongest monetary policy tool - increasing the reserve requirements that banks must maintain.
The rate will now rise from 10% to 12%, which means that for every BGN 100 borrowed, the banks will have to keep nearly BGN 12 deposited in the BNB. The change is effective the 1st of July.
This should constrain credit activity, as it reduces the available resources for granting new loans. Its effectiveness, however, is not guaranteed. The cash and balances in the BNB of all banks are close to BGN 23 billion, according to latest figues, so despite a higher reserve requirement, an impressive excess of liquidity remains.
University students decrease
In the academic year 2022/2023, there are 221.3 thousand university students in Bulgaria, which is down 5.7 thousand, or by 2.5%, on the previous academic year. This includes those enrolled in vocational bachelor's, bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees at universities and colleges. The decline in colleges was 13 percent, or 1,000 fewer than in the previous year.
A total of 208 000 people study in universities and specialized higher schools. Foreign students are the same as last year - 17.6 thousand with most coming from Greece - 22.0% and Britain - 14.4%. Every tenth student is from Germany, while 9.1% come from Ukraine. Foreign students choose to study specialties mainly in the field of healthcare, with 62.4% of them choosing a subject related to healthcare and 48.8% studying Medicine.
7,000 self-classify as "vulnerable to gambling"
Nearly 7,200 people applied for entry into the register of "gambling-vulnerable" persons from mid-December 2022 to date, the National Revenue Agency (NAA) reported today. The register is not public, only a limited number of employees designated by the head of the NRA and gambling operators have access to it.
Anyone who feels that they cannot control the time and funds they spend gambling can submit a request to be entered on the register. Persons in the register will be prohibited from accessing gambling facilities for an allocated period of time. The registration document can be submitted on-site at the NRA office or sent to its email address, in which case it must be signed with a qualified electronic signature (QES)
BNB introduces higher reserve stipulation
In an attempt to cool lending, for the first time in more than 15 years, the Bulgarian National Bank has used its strongest monetary policy tool - increasing the reserve requirements that banks must maintain.
