Show all

Pejaković: 15,000 citizens can count on moratorium by year end

By the end of the year, a mandatory moratorium on loan repayment can be expected by 15,000 citizens who lost their jobs since 30 March 2020, while by the end of August there will be a moratorium on legal entities for more than €350m in gross loans, says the president of the Association of Banks, Mr Bratislav Pejakovic.

Commenting on the SDP’s proposed law on introducing the absolute moratorium in the next 6 months, he says that this would destroy the liquidity and stability of the banking, financial and economic systems. The monthly collection of annuities from placed bank funds increased by interest is at the level of €100m. With a theoretical projection of the requirements of all clients, in 6 months it would be €600m less in the banking channels for replacements. This affects the availability of funds to meet the requirements for new loans for liquidity, investment, consumption”, Mr Pejaković explains.

“At the system level, we have a decline in interest rates on placements, while with many economic stakeholders there is an increase in the price of goods and services. There is a wide range of techniques that banks use to measure and manage interest rate risk exposure. Not every technique suits every bank”, he says.

“The average effective interest rate on newly approved loans for liquidity in January was 4.12%, while in the same month last year it was 4.82%. This shows that the banks did not take advantage of the situation and increased the interest rates for this type of loans. Simply put, I do not expect interest rates to rise in the foreseeable future”, Mr Pejaković concludes.