Bulgarians keep a mountain of money under their mattresses, show calculations by “Trud news” based on BNB data. Since from January 1, 2026, the official currency in our country is the euro, by now the leva that traditionally sits in our pockets to pay with them in stores have already been spent. But despite this, the Central Bank's data as of January 23 show that people still have 10.1 billion leva. These are not leva for current expenses, but money saved under mattresses.
This was written by Stefan Kyuchukov for "Trud".
Euro banknotes and coins worth a total of over 5.3 billion euros have already been put into circulation, which according to the BNB ensures the normal functioning of the payment system and serving the needs of the economy and the population. This is enough money to serve the trade turnover in the country. But the levs under the mattresses are also about to be replaced with euros.
The 10 billion levs available to people and businesses represent a huge volume of banknotes. Even if this amount is made up only of the largest denomination of 100 levs, this represents 100 million individual banknotes. With a thickness of one banknote of about 0.1 mm, if we stack the banknotes one on top of the other, we would get a pile 10,000 meters (10 km) high, which is higher than Mount Everest. Given that among the money under the mattresses there are not only centavos, but also banknotes of smaller denominations, their volume will be even greater. For example, if the leva under the mattresses are made of 50 leva banknotes, when stacked one on top of the other, a pile 20 km high will form.
Depending on the denomination of the banknotes, 10 billion leva represents paper weighing between 100 and 200 tons. This represents between 130 and 200 cubic meters. The leva in circulation would fill a small warehouse or a medium-sized apartment.
A large part of the leva under the mattresses has long been deposited in banks or invested. Last year, a process began to deposit leva into banks so that they would be automatically converted with the introduction of the euro. As a result, the amount of household deposits in banks increased significantly. Last year, the demand for housing also increased significantly, and part of the money used for purchases was also available leva hidden under mattresses or in other secret places in the home. In reality, the leva that were not used to service daily trade turnover, but were hidden under mattresses, were probably at least twice as much as the remaining 10 billion leva that have not yet been converted into euros.
A large part of the leva that were hidden in people's homes at the beginning of last year are already in banks and will remain there. Only a part of the leva under mattresses will be exchanged for euros. This process is very profitable for banks, because with an increase in money on deposits of citizens and companies, banks have the opportunity to grant more loans and invest the money attracted from customers, from which they can realize large profits.
The size of deposits in Bulgarian banks is traditionally larger than the loans granted. But until the end of last year, banks could keep their excess money in the form of excess reserves in the BNB at zero interest. With our entry into the eurozone, banks in the country can take advantage of the European Central Bank's deposit facility by depositing their excess liquidity (cash in excess of required reserves) overnight in the BNB, receiving interest on the deposit facility, which is currently set at 2%. This mechanism guarantees banks a secure income for deposits attracted by customers. However, a large part of banks continue to give zero interest on deposits from citizens, although they can receive a secure 2% for them from the European Central Bank.
Position of the Central Bank:
The 200 euro banknote is legal tender and merchants should not refuse payment with it.
The 200 euro banknote is legal tender, said Stefan Tsvetkov, Chief Treasurer of the BNB, during a briefing of the Coordination Center for the Euro Mechanism, regarding signals that merchants are refusing to accept such banknotes. This means that merchants do not have the right to refuse payment with such a banknote.
But Georgi Chanev, Chief Director of the BNB's "Issue" Department, explained that it is important to also observe the rule of good faith. That is, if a person tries to pay for a coffee with 200 euros, the merchant may not accept the banknote. We have a total of five reports of payment being refused with a 200 euro banknote, but not in the last 10 days, said the chairman of the Coordination Center, Vladimir Ivanov.
67% of the leva in circulation have been converted into euros, but 10 billion leva remain in circulation. From the beginning of the year to January 23, 65 thousand operations were carried out in post offices alone to exchange leva for euros, worth a total of 95 million leva, said Vladimir Ivanov. He called on people and traders from larger settlements not to exchange leva for euros in post offices in smaller settlements, because the euro banknotes in them run out quickly.
From February 1, cash payments in the country will be made only in euros, Vladimir Ivanov reminded. However, banks will continue to exchange leva for euros without fees until the end of June. There is no deadline for exchanging leva for euros at the BNB.
Last week, the Consumer Protection Commission carried out 370 inspections for compliance with the Euro Introduction Act. 17 violations were issued and 5 penalty orders were handed out. The most inspections were carried out on food stores, parking lots, pharmacies and school cafeteria coupons. Last week, the NRA carried out 1,641 inspections, of which 394 were on food stores, and there were also many inspections of hair salons, hotels, parking lots and gyms.
Since the beginning of the year, there have been 71 attempts to pay with counterfeit euro banknotes, including prop banknotes used in film shootings.
The total amount exceeded 107 billion leva. Growth of 20 percent for the year
Deposits in banks increased by a record amount last year.
Household deposits in banks increased by 17.67 billion leva last year and at the end of December exceeded 107 billion leva, according to BNB data. This is a record growth in people's deposits in commercial banks of nearly 20 percent per year.
The reason for the rapid increase in deposits is our entry into the eurozone. Already at the end of last year, many people deposited a significant part of their levs in bank accounts to be automatically converted with the adoption of the euro on January 1. In December alone, household deposits increased by nearly 6.2 billion leva.
But the process of depositing money in banks began earlier. In November last year, household deposits in banks increased by 2.885 billion leva, and in October the increase in deposits was 1.7 billion leva. Traditionally, people's deposits in banks increase every month. But at the end of last year there was a clear trend of depositing large amounts into bank accounts.
Business deposits in banks are also increasing. In December alone, deposits of non-financial enterprises increased by 3.1 billion leva, and for the whole of last year their increase was 4.8 billion leva. The total increase in deposits in banks of businesses, financial enterprises and households last year was a record 23 billion leva.
Regarding a large part of the levs that are still in circulation, it can be said that people clearly do not want to deposit them in a bank, but will exchange them for euro banknotes, which they will continue to keep under mattresses. But most of the leva is already in banks.
For a year, the increase in mortgages is 28 percent. People are borrowing more from businesses
Household loans for house and apartment purchases grew by 28 percent year-on-year.
Household loans granted by banks to households grew by an impressive 28 percent last year, according to BNB data. At the end of last year, the total amount of loans granted for house and apartment purchases was over BGN 32.9 billion. Over the year, these loans increased by BGN 7.2 billion, and in December alone, their growth was BGN 788 million.
The reason for this is the growing desire of people to live in a nicer home, as well as to invest their money in real estate. Often, people's available money is not enough to invest in a nice apartment, and they also take out a loan to secure the necessary amount to complete a transaction. Last year, interest in real estate increased further due to our upcoming entry into the eurozone and people's expectations that after adopting the euro, prices would increase even more.
Consumer loans for households increased by 13.3 percent last year and by the end of December their total amount exceeded 21 billion leva. The increase in consumer loans within a year was 2.5 billion leva. A large part of these loans are for home renovations, for the purchase of furniture and household appliances. It turns out that people's desire to live in a nicer home is the main driver of bank lending in the country.
Households are taking more loans from businesses, according to BNB data. Last year, the total amount of loans to households increased by 9.77 billion leva, or 21 percent, and the increase in loans granted to businesses was 4.9 billion leva, or 10 percent.