The Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CBBH) confirmed for FENA that, for now, there are no indications that risks have spilled over from the financial markets of the USA, Switzerland and the European Union to the banking sector of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Even reports from the region do not indicate an increase in risk in their financial systems. It is indisputable that the new global financial crisis would affect our financial and real sectors. However, the current development of the situation, where the authorities of the USA and Switzerland acted decisively and quickly, facing numerous discussions about moral hazard and legal obstacles, gives us confidence that ‘lessons have been learned’ from the previous crisis and that a new crisis will be prevented,” the CBBH stated.
When it comes to the banking system of BiH, as they add, it is significantly more resistant to crises than it was in 2008. The sector is consolidated, individual banks are much better capitalized, and what is very important, the sector is self-sustaining considering that it relies on domestic sources of financing. Also, we now have legally established and developed mechanisms for the restructuring of banks, which can partly include the use of funds from the Deposit Insurance Agency in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
They noted that the banks operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina are not related to Credit Suisse Bank by ownership relations. In terms of business relations, the CBBH does not have data on bank operations with each foreign bank, given that such information represents the bank’s business secret.
“Turbulence like this in big banks always brings with it a certain amount of mistrust. However, economists, bank regulators and market analysts believe that banks are in a better situation than in 2008, are better regulated and have significant protective layers of capital and liquidity. Also, this time the policymakers reacted faster,” adds the CBBH.
