BRATISLAVA, February 4, (WEBNOVINY) — The price of bank loans and bank fees in Slovakia is excessive, according to Finance Minister Ivan Miklos. Therefore, the ministry wants to systematically address the area, Miklos told Friday’s news conference. The minister further expressed a suspicion of a potential cartel agreement among banks. Together with the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) and the Antitrust Office, the ministry will look into the matter, too. “We want to dedicate attention to this issue in a more complex way and of course in cooperation with the central bank, as well as the antitrust authority, as it has to be investigated whether the current increase in fees is a potential cartel action or cartel agreement,” Miklos pointed out.
The Finance Ministry has further prepared several changes in the system of housing support. It is submitting the material for interdepartmental review. “In the material we are submitting, we identify several problems and also suggest how to resolve the problems,” Miklos commented. The changes should regard for instance the reduction of obligatory coverage of provided mortgages by issues of mortgage bonds from the current 70 percent to 50 percent.
Miklos sees problems also in the system of home saving schemes. According to him, the system motivates people to taking loans more than saving. The ministry would like to limit the amount of home saving fees by setting a cap on the total volume of fees. It is also considering putting a cap on the total volume of loans.
The main aim of the ministry is to increase the information level of bank clients about bank products. The ministry also wants to boost competition among banks which should contribute to a reduction of prices for clients.
According to preliminary data of the central bank, revenues of Slovak banks from fees and commissions amounted to EUR 591.2 million, up 12 percent y/y last year. Fees and commissions from deposit products and banking transactions for last year reached EUR 416.4 million. Pretax profit of banks last year grew from EUR 340.6 million in 2009 to EUR 663.5 million.
SITA