The long-announced increase in interest rates in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has finally started.
The bad news is that money is more expensive for citizens, and the good news is that interest rates have not increased for companies.
Namely, the average effective interest rate on loans from banks based in the Federation of BiH (FBiH) in the first quarter of this year was 3.71 percent. In the beginning, but also at the end of last year, that rate was 3.59 percent.
However, the differences are greater if loans to the economy and the population are separated.
The average effective interest rate on loans to the economy at the beginning of this year is 2.54 percent, in contrast to last year’s 2.57 percent, which means that there was also a slight drop.
On the other hand, the average effective interest rate on loans to the population grew to 6.45 percent from 6.16 at the end of last year, or 5.99 percent at the beginning of 2022.
Lending to the economy is of great importance for the economic development of the economy. On the other hand, difficult borrowing by citizens can lead to a slight decline in consumption, which should help curb inflation, Biznis Info reports.
E.Dz.
