MP Jan Ďuračka (SNS) and member of the Parliamentary Committee for Finance, Budget and Currency threatened on January 29 to put forth a bill in parliament banning commercial banks from charging fees for depositing coins in customer’s accounts unless the banks stop the practise.
Merchants in Slovakia have complained that the number of small coins in circulation since the country adopted the euro on January 1 often makes it expensive for them to deposit their cash at the bank, the TASR newswire wrote.
Ďuračka, who claims to have already drafted such a bill, says that in the past the fees charged by banks caused no difficulty because there were fewer crown coins(hellers)than euro coins(cents)in circulation.
He announced that his parliamentary committee will hold a meeting with the Slovak central bank (NBS) Governor Ivan Šramko and banking association leaders on February 3. If they don't come up with a solution he warns that he will put the bill to a vote in Parliament.
His warning echoes Prime Minister Robert Fico, who said earlier in the day that the government will take action unless banks present a constructive solution. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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