OTP BANK EXPECTS 3.4% GROWTH OF BULGARIA’S ECONOMY

Bulgaria's economy will grow by 3.4% in 2012-2015, according to an analysis of OTP Bank, owner of Bulgarian DSK Bank, presented on Wednesday in Budapest. Unlike forecasts of other financial institutions, OTP says that our economy will move along with that of Romania. The Ukraine will be the region's champion in that period, with estimated growth of some 4.7%, followed by Russia (4.2%) and Hungary (3.6%).

The analysis of the Hungarian banking group is close to the estimates of other institutions. UniCredit Bulbank expects GDP growth in our country to accelerate to 3.3% on an annual basis in 2012, Eurobank EFG Group forecasts more than 2.5% growth for 2011, and the consulting company Ernst & Young predicts a 3.2% growth this year, expected to accelerate to 4.8% in 2012 and to 5.6% in 2013. According to the European Commission, Bulgaria's economy will grow by 2.8% this year and by 3.7% in 2012. 

The estimates of financiers from OTP for the banking sector show that it will increase by some 12% in the coming years. The Ukraine is again the champion in terms of this indicator. Its banking sector is expected to grow by 18.7% until 2015, but this is mainly due to the fact that it is not sufficiently developed at present. Despite the good forecasts for this country, however, experts believe that it is most difficult to do business there. Moreover, consumer lending is very well developed in the Ukraine and Russia, but the other segments are still gaining momentum.

Sandor Csanyi, BoD Chairman of OTP Bank, denied rumours that OTP was planning to sell its Bulgarian subsidiary. "On the contrary - we will continue to develop and support DSK. The region on which we have focused is very important to us and we are willing to become serious players in the sector," stated Csanyi.