Lending citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina in recent years is becoming an increasingly important topic, both due to increased interest in consumer loans, and due to the general economic situation and inflation growth.
While Croatia tightens the conditions for obtaining a loan, BiH is not going this way for now. The director of the BiH Bank Association, Edis Ražanica, for N1 spoke about the responsibility of citizens, the maximum salary burden and the possibilities of further credit growth.
How about BiH compared to Croatia?
While the Croatian National Bank prevently introduces measures to control the strong growth of consumer loans, the Radica believes that there is no need for such steps in BiH.
“If we look at the state of the loan in Croatia and BiH, there are significant differences. At the end of 2024. year, the loans of the population in Croatia amounted to more than 21 billion euros, while the total loans of BiH citizens amounted to KM 12.8 billion. Given the difference in the population, it is clear that the average indebtedness of BiH citizens is significantly less, “Razanica said.
According to him, measures such as those in Croatia are not necessary because BiH citizens are not too much.
Consumer loan growth
Currently, BiH citizens can raise non-purpose loan to 50,000 KM. However, the spell believes that this amount is insufficient for the current market needs.
“We are the opinion that there is space to increase the maximum amount of consumer loans. Analyzes show that an increase in 65,000 or as much as 70,000 KM would be optimal, given the growth of the average and minimum wages. The growth of the cost of living and the price of real estate further justifies this correction, “Radjenica explained.
Credit load and examples of calculations
In accordance with current rules, the maximum salary burden in BiH is 50% for receiving up to 1,000 KM, while for the amounts above that threshold take up to two-thirds.
The Radica illustrated how it looks like in concrete examples:
- Receiving 1,000 km: The maximum load can be 500 km.
- Receiving 2,500 km: The maximum load can be 1,500 KM (500 KM for the first 1,000 km and 1,000 KM for the rest of the income).
If a citizen with a 2,500 km salary would like to buy a property of 350,000 KM for a period of 25 years, it would not be possible because the monthly installment amounted to 1,800 KM. However, for real estate values up to 280,000 KM per month of 1,500 KM would be acceptable.
Examples of car financing
For citizens who want to buy a car, the situation is something more favorable. For example, a person with an average salary of 1,500 KM can raise non-purpose loan for a vehicle worth 30,000 KM.
BiH citizens – moderately in charge
“BiH citizens belong to the category low to moderately in charge compared to the countries of the region and the EU. Given the growth of salaries and costs, we believe that there is space for increasing the maximum amounts of consumer loans, “the raven pointed out.
Although current credit policy in BiH enables stable credit growth, salary growth and changes in economic conditions could open space for further adjustments to respond to citizens and markets.
Source: Forbes
