The Governor of the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) Ivan Šramko perceives the global financial crisis as serious, but posing no risk to Slovak banks. In his words, the crisis in the United States was caused by low standards in mortgage lending, which eventually led to an increased number of people unable to repay their debts. Banks in Europe, including Slovakia, have no problems with clients' solvency, the NBS governor said at Thursday's press conference of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Šramko is aware that the crisis has spilled over to Europe due to exposure of some banks in the United States and the erosion of trust among banks. These factors make funding more expensive.
The banking sector in Slovakia is not directly involved in securities that suffered losses. Banks in Slovakia direct their assets and resources on the local sector. As the NBS governor added, the local banking sector has no liquidity problems. SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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