BOSNIAN CENTRAL BANK: BORROWING DECREASED IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (February 28,2008) - Recent data from the Bosnian Central Bank show every Bosnian citizen has average 1,470 Bosnian Marks borrowed from banks, and the credit burden of every employed person is average 8,000 Bosnian Marks.

The Bosnian Central Bank does not find these figures worrying, and reports that borrowing slightly decreased in November and December.

By the end of December, retail loans amounted to 5.685 billion Bosnian Marks and growth rate dropped from 29.5 per cent to 28 per cent. There is no way to claim with certainty that the drop was due to required reserves ratio for commercial banks being raised from 15 per cent to 18 per cent, head of the Statistic Department of the Bosnian Central Bank said.

The banks in Bosnia still have no problem meeting this requirement, and the reserve surplus is around 750 million Bosnian Marks. Also, banks are becoming more flexible, requiring guarantors and other securities for their loans less often.
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