SOFIA, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The amounts of deposits and loans in Bulgaria increased year-on-year at the end of December 2017, preliminary data of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) showed on Thursday.

The total amount of deposits of sectors non-financial corporations, and households and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH) was 69.86 billion BGN (some 44.07 billion U.S. dollars), increasing by 7.9 percent on an annual basis, the BNB said.

Deposits of non-financial corporations amounted to 22.03 billion BGN, rising by 13.8 percent on an annual basis, while deposits of sector households and NPISHs amounted to 47.83 billion BGN, up 5.4 percent year-on-year.

Meanwhile, the total amount of the loans granted to the two sectors at the end of the fourth quarter of 2017 was 50.91 billion BGN, increasing by 3.4 percent on an annual basis.

The loans granted to the non-financial corporations amounted to 31.28 billion BGN, or 1.8 percent up year-on-year, while the figures in the sector of households and NPISHs stood at 19.63 billion BGN, up 6.0 percent, the BNB said. (1 U.S. dollar = 1.58 BGN)