The interest rates on deposits offered by the commercial banks to the local households and companies have reached new historical lows and are very close to zero (those in Euro offered to Bulgarian firms decreased to 0.38% on an annual basis). The interest rates on consumer loans fell for the first time under 10% since the end of the credit expansion in 2007. This is mainly due to the excessive liquidity of the banking system and to the negative interest rates levied by the Bulgarian National Bank on the excessive reserves of the commercial banks. The low profitability of the bank deposits already made some Bulgarian households and companies withdraw part of their savings and boosted consumption of services and items. The cheaper consumer loans, however, have not yet triggered substantial growth in lending.