Kozarić at PSBiH House of Representatives Session: Citizens' problems need to be resolved

Today's session of the House of Representatives of the PS BiH also included information from the Central Bank of BiH on problems faced by loan beneficiaries with clauses indexed in Swiss francs and measures taken to resolve these issues, writes the Patria News Agency.

Precisely for this reason, the Governor of the Central Bank of BiH, Kemal Kozarić, is attending the session. This agenda item is actually the implementation of an initiative by MP Aleksandra Pandurević (SDS), adopted at the session of the House of Representatives of the PSBiH held on February 26.

Addressing the MPs, Kozarić stated that a significant number of citizens are affected by this problem, although the CBBiH is not directly responsible for it, nor is it tasked with supervising commercial banks.

- There are over 6,000 such loans in BiH, and out of this number, 534 are over 150,000 KM, and 328 are not servicing their obligations. 1723 citizens are not servicing loans under 150,000 KM. The bank was obliged to warn about the risk, and according to them, they did - said Kozarić.

He added that the conversion was not done through the Central Bank, but that it was not an obligation either, as banks could have done this conversion outside of BiH.

- Loans were given in KM, and we believe that given that these are contractual obligations, the issue should be resolved between the client and the bank, as it is in the bank's interest to resolve the problem. We also played a mediating role to help resolve the problem - said Kozarić, adding that he believes this is a good message and that this House wants citizens' problems to be resolved, but that it is best to find a middle ground.

After Kozarić's presentation, Pandurević stated that all the observations made by the governor were accurate.

- This information has provided us with a snapshot of the situation. The banking agencies did not exactly do their job, because we see that a large number of these loans are of poor quality. There was room for the Agencies to react here. The bank is offering loan reprograming, under supposedly favorable conditions, but on the condition that the client waives the right to sue, and that is illegal - said Pandurević.

She emphasized that it is fortunate that the percentage of such loans is small, because if the percentage were as it is in euros, the financial stability of BiH would be jeopardized.

- We propose a conclusion tasking the Council of Ministers to prepare amendments to the Consumer Protection Law and to ban loans in foreign currencies, except for euros. To prevent such situations, I call on MPs to support this law - added Pandurević.

Saša Magazinović, an MP from the SDP, noted that many lives have ended tragically, and that it is better to view the entire problem from a human, rather than a statistical, perspective.

- The CB BiH has a mechanism to introduce a mandatory reserve rate. I understand that the governor provided this information in a way that the data is accurate, but all we can read from it is that the CB BiH does not have a tool it can use, and that the optimal solution is for everyone to resolve their case individually - said Magazinović.

He recalled that we have similar examples in the region, and particularly emphasized the situation in Croatia.

- We usually deal with topics by saying how something cannot be done or that there is no jurisdiction. Does anyone in the Council of Ministers have any written prohibition against gathering all individuals in one place and seeing what the problem is - added Magazinović, stating that today's attempt is a small appeal to resolve the problem.

Mirsad Đonlagić, an MP from the SBB, stated that the topic concerns difficult human destinies and that there are 9,500 such loans, as the discussion on this matter was first held in the Parliament of the FBiH.

- This is a cold-blooded situation that only looks at profit. The banking lobby is so strong that we are unable to do anything - emphasized Đonlagić.

Šefik Džaferović noted that it is important that this information was presented to the Parliament.

- This must also be addressed by the entity parliaments. It is evident that we have a huge difference between norms. It is unacceptable that, according to the law on obligations, later, even with interest, double the amount is returned. We must react. I see today's discussion as a message that we will not tolerate injustice. I don't know what measures we can take, but state action at all levels is needed here - added Džaferović.