For several years now, commercial banks in our country have been rapidly increasing their profits, which is also the goal of their owners. It was announced that already for the first half of this year, they made a profit of 607 million euros. Compared to the same period last year, it is almost twice as much, and compared to the year before last, almost three times more. Already for the first half of this year, they have a profit rate above 10 percent.
The banks’ profit rate of 20.5 percent will then be reached, which is highly disproportionate to the financial condition of all bank clients. Inflation is 13.7 percent, and real GDP growth is more than six times lower than that.
By their very nature, banks are in a monopoly position to a significant extent, and our regulations also grant them the exclusivity of depositing money, cashless payments and granting loans. And we don’t have a diversified and active financial market. Bonds have not been domesticated, and there are fewer and fewer shares that would be used to raise capital and invest in it without the banks. Domestic capital is scarce, so there is a lot of borrowing abroad. Banks are systemically and practically in a more favorable position in relations with their clients, so they can earn relatively more from them.
The number of shareholders of banks decreased and with their merger they were increased, thus banking was strengthened, which made it easier for their fewer owners to use their monopoly position. Through privatization, we unfavorably sold most of the state-owned banks, mostly to foreign owners. There is only one major state-owned bank left. Therefore, the possibility of foreign and domestic bank owners agreeing on actions for the purpose of greater profitability increases.
And that weakens the regulatory capacity of the National Bank (NB). It is true that in other countries banks manage to increase their profit target more than the capabilities of their clients. A tax on bank extra profits is proposed. But their attention is focused on it more than with us.
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