MACEDONIA
EBRD loans €5 million equivalent in Denars to FYROM’s ProCredit Bank EBRD - 04 April 2012 The EBRD is increasing the availability of financing to private businesses in FYR of Macedonia, with a local currency loan equivalent to EUR 5 million to FYROM’s ProCredit Bank for on-lending to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The loan is extended under the EBRD-Italy Local Enterprise Facility and will help FYROM’s ProCredit Bank to diversify its funding base and maintain the access to credit for MSMEs in the current challenging environment. FYROM’s banking system remains stable Balkans.com - 23 May 2012 FYR of Macedonia’s banking system remained stable, maintaining high solvency and liquidity despite uncertainty of the EU debt crisis. Stress-tests have shown that FYR of Macedonia’s banks would sustain even the worst-case scenarios, concluded the Financial Stability Committee, which reviewed Tuesday latest trends in the country’s banking system. “The FYR Macedonia’s banking system demonstrates exceptional stability. Capital adequacy has increased by 17.5 percent, whereas the highly liquid assets in the total assets of the banking system has reached 31.5 percent in the first quarter of 2012”, said National Bank of the FYR Macedonia (NBRM) Governor Dimitar Bogov.
ROMANIA
The credit consumer market in Romania was up 10 percent last year BUSINESS REVIEW - 12 April 2012 The credit consumer market in Romania was up 10 % to EUR 469 million last year, representing the volume of new issued credit, according to data from the Financial Companies Association – ALB Romania. Cetelem IFN, the credit consumer firm part of BNP Paribas Personal Finance, estimates the credit consumer market will grow by 5 percent this year. Cetelem is the leading credit consumer firm in Romania reporting a 24 percent increase in credit volume last year. Romania’s C.Bank eased regulations for the way it provides liquidity to commercial banks BLOOMBERG - 01 June 2012 Romania’s central bank eased regulations for the way it provides liquidity to commercial banks, giving lenders a
chance to tap more money in exchange for state treasuries. Policy makers raised the number of different state debt issues a bank can use as collateral to get liquidity from the central bank to five from three, including for weekly repurchase operations, according to a document published on the regulator’s website. Some of the 41 banks operating on the Romanian market, mostly owned by western European lenders, started relying more on the funding provided by the central bank as a worsening of the European sovereign-debt crisis trims funding from parents.
SERBIA
Serbia’s banking system one of the region’s more stable Balkans.com - 28 May 2012 The National Bank of Serbia is closely monitoring the situation in the banking and financial system of the country and no trends have been noticed that could be rated as destabilizing, said Governor Dejan Soskic. He pointed out that there is no reason to be nervous and that the local banks are highly capitalized and liquid. Foreign currency savings of citizens are not only insured by the state up to the level of 50,000 euros per savings deposit, but also a relatively high level of foreign currency mandatory reserves is an additional guarantee of not just liquidity but also of solvency of the banks holding deposits of citizens, explained Soskic.
TURKEY
Citigroup is selling a 10.1 percent stake in Turkey’s Akbank TAS SFGate – 25 May 2012 Citigroup Inc. is selling a 10.1 % stake in Turkey’s Akbank TAS, valued at about $1.27 billion as the third-largest U.S. bank by assets boosts capital. The New York-based bank is placing 404 million shares in Akbank owned by Citigroup Overseas Investment Corp. to investors at 5.20 liras to 5.30 liras apiece, according to Bloomberg. The Development Bank of Turkey signed a 75 mln euro loan agreement with EIB Balkans Business – 11 May 2012 The Development Bank of Turkey (DBT) signed an EUR 75 million loan agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the ‘Development of Small and Big Enterprises (DBT Loan for Renewable Energy and Energy Productivity).’ DBT has been cooperating with the EIB since 2002 and has secured 462.5 million euros in loans from the EIB since that date, Hurriyet Daily reports.
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