NBS says banking sector positive in 1997

The National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) stated on April 29 it considered the 1997 development of the local banking sector as positive. The NBS added that the overall volume of assets of registered Slovak banks totaled "around 777 billion Sk" ($22.4 billion) as of December 31, 1997, an annual increase of 10%. "There was an improvement in terms of the cautiousness of bank operations...the main dynamic in the [asset] increase...was shown by banks which were created after 1990," the NBS said in a statement quoting a preliminary report on banking sector development.