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06. January 2003 - Monday |
Yugoslav banks face big test (www.ft.com)
Yugoslavia's communist-era state monopoly on financial transactions closes down today as the state hands responsibility for payments over to commercial banks.
The move fulfils a Yugoslav obligation to the International Monetary Fund under a standing loan agreement, while meeting a requirement for future membership in the European Union.
Closure of the ZOP, the National Bank of Yugoslavia's clearance and settlement bureau, is part of the reformist government's plan for fiscal
decentralization and modernization. Mladjan Dinkic, the central bank governor, called it a "huge test" for the local banking sector.
The ZOP's demise may force a wave of consolidation in the Serbian and Montenegrin banking sectors, central bank officials say, as weaker banks struggle to bear costly new administrative burdens.
Foreign bankers had complained that ZOP operations were inefficient and the personnel un-cooperative toward non-Yugoslav bankers.
By Eric Jansson
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