Bank profits continue to grow, but at a slower pace, according to BNB data from the end of June, reaching a little over 1.8 billion levs, which is 7.1% more than reported in mid-2023.
Banska DSK heads the field with more than 500 million levs, which is an annual growth topping 12%.
According to BNB, this slight deceleration is not due to a cooling in lending, but to an increase in the cost of the resource as a result of the increase in interest rates on deposits.
Natural gas price is up
The energy regulator has set the natural gas price for August at 60.75 levs per mWh.
This price increase - by 4.5% compared to July, is because of the repair of the Trans-Adriatic gas pipeline, due to which there will be reduced supplies between August 5 and August 11 - by 200 thousand mWh, the regulator states.
Therefore, the price of competitive Azeri gas is reduced to 68.5% of its share of monthly consumption, which leads to an increase in the price mix. The reduced quantities will be compensated by the storage in Chiren.
Record June and very hot July
June 2024 was the hottest in Bulgaria for 140 years, with the average temperature for the month having risen by just over 1 degree globally over the last 30 years, according to climatologist Simeon Matev, professor at Sofia University.
Matev also noted that in recent years extreme heat is observed not just in terms of maximum temperatures, but in terms of duration. Data for July in Bulgaria showed that it was only 0.2 degrees cooler than the record July of 2012, Matev said. He predicted that August will also see above average temperatures, despite a slight cooling in the coming days.
Bank profits continue to grow, but at a slower pace, according to BNB data from the end of June, reaching a little over 1.8 billion levs, which is 7.1% more than reported in mid-2023.
Banska DSK heads the field with more than 500 million levs, which is an annual growth topping 12%.
