The National Bank of Serbia (NBS) announced that saving in dinars remains more profitable in Serbia, with savings deposits in local currency reaching a record 191.2 billion dinars by the end of 2024.
Over the past 12 years, dinar savings have outperformed foreign currency savings in both the short and long term, according to the latest half-year analysis of savings profitability for the period from December 2012 to December 2024, conducted by the NBS.
The NBS highlighted that the higher profitability of dinar savings compared to foreign currency savings is due to a combination of factors: higher interest rates on dinar savings, the non-taxation of interest income on dinar savings, and the 15% tax on interest income from foreign currency savings. This has contributed to maintaining macroeconomic and financial stability in recent years.
Since 2012, savings in dinars have increased nearly 11 times, with the share of dinar savings in total savings growing from 1.87% in December 2012 to 9.6% by the end of 2024.
In the second half of 2024, growth in dinar savings was most notable for deposits with a maturity of six to 12 months, which saw an increase of 22.5 billion dinars, making up 53.7% of total dinar savings. Savings with a maturity of three to six months increased by 8.6 billion dinars, while demand deposits grew by 6.3 billion dinars. However, savings with a maturity of one to two years declined by 9.1 billion dinars, partly due to the leap year effect.
The average amount of dinar savings per deposit at the end of 2024 was 192,000 dinars.
Foreign currency savings have also grown significantly over the past 12 years, nearly doubling from 8.3 billion euros in December 2012 to 15.4 billion euros in December 2024. The average amount of foreign currency savings per deposit at the end of 2024 was 3,605 euros.
When examining the profitability of one-year fixed-term savings over a twelve-year period, it was found that by the end of 2024, a saver who deposited 100,000 dinars would earn nearly 48,000 dinars (over 400 euros) more than someone who saved the same amount in euros, based on the average exchange rate during the term.
In addition, dinar savings with a one-year term that were not renewed were more profitable than equivalent foreign currency savings in nearly all observed annual periods (over 98%).
A saver who deposited 100,000 dinars in December 2023 would have earned over 2,200 dinars more by December 2024 than a saver who deposited the same amount in euros during that period.
Finally, dinar savings with a three-month term were more profitable than euro savings in over 90% of the observed sub-periods, and savings with a two-year term were more profitable in all observed periods.
