The local banks will have to tighten the creditworthiness screening of credit applicants after the Bulgarian central bank amended the rules for assigning of lower risk level to credit exposures. Going forward, for business loans with principal repayments due for periods longer than one month (biannually or semiannually, for instance) will be reassigned to a lower risk level after spending at least 12 months at the respective higher risk level. Previously, business loans needed to be serviced regularly for at least six months before being moved to a lower risk level. The central bank has also updated the ordinance on capital adequacy, allowing banks to include into their capital base their half-yearly operating profit provided it is audited and all foreseeable costs related to dividend payment, charges and taxes have been subtracted.