After a very good start into the year 2014, the severe winter weather in the USA, worries about weak performance in the Emerging Markets (EM), especially in China, and, first and foremost, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine showed their impact as risk factors.

Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria) launched a promotional campaign on new consumer loans, in which clients can benefit from lower interest rate for loans of a maximum amount of BGN 35 000. During the campaign, the interest rate is 7.97% for loans up to 7 years and 8.97% for a period exceeding 7 years. The interest rate is fixed for the first year, and for the remaining period it is formed based on a 6-month SOFIBOR plus margin. The period for paying the loans is up to 10 years with no early repayment fee

“For Austria, our 2014/15 GDP estimates have remained unchanged for more than a year now. Leading indicators suggest that the recovery of the Austrian economy will continue to accelerate in the course of this year. The high point in economic activity should be reached during the winter half year 2014/15, as reflected in the projected GDP growth rates of 1.5 per cent for 2014 and 2.3 per cent for 2015,” starts Peter Brezinschek, head of Raiffeisen Research at Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI

28.03.2014

RBI realized profit before tax of € 835 million in 2013. The year-on-year decrease of € 203 million was primarily attributable to one-off effects in 2012, such as the sale of bonds and the hybrid tier 1 capital buyback totaling € 276 million. Operating result improved significantly by 17 per cent, or € 351 million.

Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria) extended the working hours of 21 bank offices in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Stara Zagora, Ruse, Haskovo and Sliven.