On 11 December the
Banking Agency of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Agencija za
bankarstvo FBiH) – issued a quarterly report for 3Q 2012 on the banking system
of the Federation.1 In
addition, several days earlier the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with
jurisdiction over the entire country, carried out a monthly update to its
consolidated statistics for the banking sector in the entire country, bringing
them up to date through 31 October 2012.
(1 BAM = 0.511292 EUR.)
From the
consolidated, nationwide data it is clear that total assets in the nationwide commercial
banking system remained virtually unchanged in the first 10 months of 2012,
rising only slightly from 21.90 bln BAM at the beginning of the year to 22.14
bln BAM at the end of October. On the
“entity” level, in the first ten months of 2012 total assets in Republika
Srpska rose from 5.73 to 6.18 bln BAM, while total assets in the Federation
declined slightly, from 16.17 to 15.96 bln BAM.
As for interest rates, at the end of October average interest rates
nationwide on new time deposits and savings deposits (excluding demand
deposits) denominated in BAM were 3.16% for deposits by households and 2.45%
for deposits by businesses, while the rates for new time deposits and savings
deposits denominated in foreign currences were 3.27% for household deposits and
3.01% for business deposits. In the case
of loans, the average interest rates for new, long-term loans in BAM were 7.96%
for loans to households and 7.17% for loans to businesses, while the average
rates for long-term loans in foreign currencies were 7.50% and 6.20%,
respectively.
On the “entity”
level, the quarterly report for 3Q 2012 for the Federation indicates that
consolidated net profit2 for the 19 banks operating in the
Federation totaled 110,756,000 BAM for the first nine months of 2012, a
considerable increase from the consolidated net profit of 41,472,000 BAM
recorded in the year-earlier period and a vast improvement over the
consolidated net loss of 58,741,000 BAM recorded in 9M 2010. The Banking Agency of the Federation
attributes the increased profit for 2011 to the introduction of International
Accounting Standards in the Federation, particularly IAS 39 (accounting for
financial instruments) and IAS 36 (accounting for provisions, contingent
liabilities, and contingent assets). (Banks
operating in Republika Srpska were required to adopt IAS and IFRS – International
Financial Reporting Standards – by the end of 2010, but the deadline for banks
operating in the Federation was the end of 2011.)
Sources:
1 Since the Dayton Accord of 1995 the state of Bosnia and
Herzegovina Herzegovina Serb Republic
2 AOP 308: ukupni neto dobitak u obračunskom periodu (290 ± 307)
Mark Pleas
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