Transnistrian banks operate at slow pace

Since the beginning of the year, the banks from Transnistria have recorded slow progress. During the first 4 months, they increased their assets by only 0.17%, up to $665 million. During the same year of 2007, the growth was over 26%, Info Prim Neo reports. In a report of the central bank of the area, published on the manque finance ministry (http://www.minfin-pmr.org) the total value of the means attracted by commercial banks has dropped by 3.6% and now stand at $289 million. As result a sudden drop to $150 million of deposit balance accounts was registered. The banks' net incomes fell with $6.5 million and stood by the end of March at $2.2 million. During the considered period, the real sector of economy has been denied access to credits, the amount of operations falling by 12.2% this year, down to $164 million. The long-term loans given to companies diminished by 61%. The regional trend of giving most of the credits to industrial plants, telecommunications and transport companies has maintained, as their quota accounts for 41% of the total. Still these ones also have became less, as more loans have been granted to the agricultural sector. According to the document, a growth of consumer loans granted to the people by the Transnistrian banks is noticed in the area. Their value ran up by 7.4% the first 3 months, and by 69% compared with the same period of the last year. From January 2008, the Tiraspol authorities do not pay the interests of state securities issued in 2005-2007, with the maturity term of 15 years. The region's central bank thus contains the money excess on the market because of its own certificates, suspending the REPO operations with such securities. The measures seem not to have brought the expected result, since inflation reached 10.7% in three months.