Serbian banking system stable, NBS governor says

The National Bank of Serbia (NBS) is carefully monitoring the situation in the banking and financial system in the country, NBS Governor Dejan Soskic says. He added that the central bank had not noticed any trends that could be described as destabilizing. Serbian banking system stable, NBS governor says “Serbia's banking system is one of the more stable in the region and there is no reason for any kind of nervousness,” he told Tanjug, adding that domestic banks were highly capitalized and liquid. "The people's foreign currency savings are not just ensured by the government to up to EUR 50,000 per savings deposit, but the relatively high level of foreign exchange reserve represents additional guarantee of not only liquidity, but also solvency for the banks holding the people's deposits," he stated. “The banks whose founders are from Greece are domestic, independent legal persons that are directly monitored by the NBS,” Soskic pointed out. "It is very likely the chain of events in Greece will potentially affect the total losses of the banks in Greece. But those are not just Greek banks, but also other international banks that are exposed to the Greek public debt, but those are separate legal persons from the domestic banks and our banks are not responsible for their losses," the governor added. “Losses in European banks can affect the operations of their central offices in Europe, and also the operations of their subsidiaries in Central and Southeastern Europe through certain channels,” he stated. “The NBS changed the structure of the required reserve in the past two years to stimulate long-term sources of funding in banks and there has been an important change for the better in that area,” he remarked. “The Serbian banking system is more reliant on long-term sources of funding now, in terms of the structure of funding from abroad, which adds another line of defense from international instability that could have a negative impact on the home banking system,” he explained. “A wave of increases of share capital in banks in Serbia founded by foreigners occurred last year, at a level exceeding EUR 400mn, followed by increases of share capital in banks with minority or majority shares owned by Serbian citizens, above all the government,” Soskic concluded. Dejan Soskic (Tanjug, file) Tanjug

Serbian banking system stable, NBS governor says

“Serbia's banking system is one of the more stable in the region and there is no reason for any kind of nervousness,” he told Tanjug, adding that domestic banks were highly capitalized and liquid.

"The people's foreign currency savings are not just ensured by the government to up to EUR 50,000 per savings deposit, but the relatively high level of foreign exchange reserve represents additional guarantee of not only liquidity, but also solvency for the banks holding the people's deposits," he stated.

“The banks whose founders are from Greece are domestic, independent legal persons that are directly monitored by the NBS,” Šoškić pointed out.

"It is very likely the chain of events in Greece will potentially affect the total losses of the banks in Greece. But those are not just Greek banks, but also other international banks that are exposed to the Greek public debt, but those are separate legal persons from the domestic banks and our banks are not responsible for their losses," the governor added.

“Losses in European banks can affect the operations of their central offices in Europe, and also the operations of their subsidiaries in Central and Southeastern Europe through certain channels,” he stated.

“The NBS changed the structure of the required reserve in the past two years to stimulate long-term sources of funding in banks and there has been an important change for the better in that area,” he remarked.

“The Serbian banking system is more reliant on long-term sources of funding now, in terms of the structure of funding from abroad, which adds another line of defense from international instability that could have a negative impact on the home banking system,” he explained.

“A wave of increases of share capital in banks in Serbia founded by foreigners occurred last year, at a level exceeding EUR 400mn, followed by increases of share capital in banks with minority or majority shares owned by Serbian citizens, above all the government,” Šoškić concluded.