Firms refinanced their old loans en masse, which were concluded in a different environment, when the economy was operating before the pandemic, operating with an upward trend, then interest rates were higher, then interest rates fell, now worldwide interest rates are negative, of course they decrease. This is how the financier Emil Harsev commented to BNR yesterday’s speech by the caretaker Minister of Economy Kiril Petkov.
As Dir.bg wrote a day ago, Petkov said that the audit committee of the state bank had informed him that the Commercial Register showed that two of the top 8 companies of the Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB) were financed at much higher prices. good interest rates from their previous loans.
“The difference in interest rates is about 5%. Technomarket received a loan with an interest rate of 2%, and before BDB its interest rate was 7%. At Transpect we see instead of 9% of their previous loan – 4%.”, Petkov explained.
According to Harsev, there is nothing abnormal about interest rates changing and companies seeking refinancing under good new conditions.
“The fact that a bank has lent to large borrowers is not necessarily a terrible thing, on the contrary, there were projects that required more funding, here we should rather argue – whether BDB is for this purpose – to lend to small and medium business – it is clearly not done in a way that can fulfill this function “he noted.
“It is small in volume, banks that lend to small and medium-sized businesses around the world have a network of branches, such as savings banks in Germany, and the Bulgarian Development Bank has a location with a small circle of staff to be able to afford is a major market player for small and medium-sized businesses directly “, said the expert.
“But we also have to think about who would lend to big business, who would solve, as a financial institution, the state’s problems in financing large industries, such as the military-industrial complex – someone should finance this as well, and this business is banned. for private banks for financing “, commented Harsev.
In response to Minister Petkov’s statement that the money in BDB belongs to the taxpayers, Harsev explained that this is not the case because the bank is not part of the budget.
“The funds in each bank are collected in the financial market, contracts are concluded with creditors, there are foreign financial institutions with which BDB has loans, from there it has attracted a resource, this resource is part of the financial market financial resources and not as part of budget, it is not part of the budget, there is no taxpayers’ money “, explained the financier.
According to him, BDB is necessary because in Bulgaria there is no mechanism of a state (sovereign) fund for investing in priority projects for the state.
“There are trillions in such funds in China”, added the economist.
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