The life in BiH in general is becoming harder and harder every day. Families capable of working barely make the ends meet and the number of those unemployed, and thereby incapable of providing basic life necessities, is increasing.
Prices of basic life necessities are becoming more and more expensive. Several years ago, one could by basic life necessities sufficient for an entire month for the amount of 300 BAM, while today one cannot buy even a half of the needed foodstuffs for the same amount.
In such situation, not even two average wages in one family are enough to cover all expenses, which is why people resort to taking loans, mostly short-term loans, different cards and other borrowings.
Data of the Agency for Banking of the FBiH states that the number of approved loans to both citizens and enterprises has increased last year.
Loans taken from banks in 2015 recorded an increase by 3.9 percent or 440 million BAM, amounting to 11.6 billion BAM at the end of the year. Loans to the citizens amounted to 5.7 billion BAM and recorded an increase by 5 percent or 257 million BAM, while the loans to legal entities amounted to 5.9 billion BAM and recorded an increase by 3.2 percent or 183 million BAM. Of that number, 13 percent are loans that are not being repaid on time.
Data of the Agency also implies that the banks benefit quite well from the citizens’ agonies, because in 2015 the banks in FBiH achieved the most positive financial result since 1996 – their profit amounted to 149 million BAM.
Also interesting is the data that citizens’ savings increased by 8 percent or 543 million BAM. Savings in banks reached the amount of as much as 7.2 billion BAM. It can be inferred from reports of the Agency for Banking that the trend of borrowing from microcredit organizations is decreasing and that citizens increasingly resort to borrowings that are harder to achieve, but much more favorable in the banks.
Report of the Agency on the operations of microcredit organizations states that the total gross loans of microcredit organizations amounted to 355.4 million BAM at the end of 2015 and that there are by 7 percent lower than in previous years. The net loans amounted to 352 million BAM and are lower by one percent. The average weighted effective interest rates on total loans in the microcredit sector amounted to 24.70 percent.
(Source: akta.ba)
