Bank Credits and Market Capitals in Financing Bulgarian Investments – Towards a New Deal?

The significant and stable economic growth is the main goal of the economic policy in Bulgaria in recent years. However, the Bulgarian financial market is still underdeveloped, and the relationship between bank lending and other capitals supply, with the absence of the latter (although with few exceptions), is one of the most relevant reasons for the companies (especially small and middle) borrowing credits from the banking system. Scarce access to other forms of capitals, different from lending, makes Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) extremely dependent on the actions of the banks, above all if considering that most of companies in Bulgaria are these sizes. The statistical investigation has highlighted the strong impact of long-term bank credits on the investments in the Bulgarian economy in the period from 2008 to 2019, highlighting the necessity of developing additional and alternative financing forms, even considering the opportunities emerging with the Next Generation EU program.