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Bosnia and Herzegovina’s banking sector: Facts & Figures

Updated December 2021– For earlier editions of Facts & Figures click here

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country in Southeastern Europe, located within the Balkan Peninsula with a population of 3,5 million. The convertible mark (konvertibilna marka – KM-BAM) – the national currency is pegged to the euro through a currency board arrangement within Central bank of BiH, which has maintained confidence in the currency and has facilitated reliable trade links with European partners (1 EUR = 1,95583 KM)

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Nominal GDP Per Capita is forecasted to be €4.802 thousand in Dec 2020 as reported by International Monetary Fund Report.

BiH financial system is dominated by commercial banks. Currently 23 commercial banks operate on the market. Two banks are in process of merger.

As Bosnia and Herzegovina is consisted of two entities: Federation of BiH and Republic of Srpska, there are two supervising bodies – two banking agencies for the banking sector: Banking Agency of Federation of BiH and Banking Agency of Republic of Srpska.

In 2020, there are 23 commercial banks operating in Bosnia and Herzegoivna with total of 9,5 thousands employees which is 2.3 % less than 2019. (there are also two development banks operating at entities level).

  • Assets growth 1,3% (€17,2 bililion)
  • Loans decrease by -2% (€10,4 billion)
  • Deposits increase by 4,9% (€12,8 billion)
  • The profitability of the banking sector deteriorated further by 38,4% (€113,9 million)
  • Tier I ratio remained is at the same level compared to end of 2019 or 18.1%.
  • NPLs level still see declining trends (thanks to temporary measures prolongation) down to 6.1% which is the lowest level since the start of the GFC.
  • Corporate segment NPL was 5% vs. 5.8% in retail segment.

Contributor: Samir Lacevice samir.lacevic@ubbih.ba