IMF: European Bank Coordination Meeting on Bosnia and Herzegovina

Following a coordination meeting held yesterday in Vienna, the parent banks of the six largest foreign banks incorporated in Bosnia and Herzegovina reaffirmed their commitments to take action needed to support their subsidiaries in the country. These commitments, along with the financial support that the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina have requested from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the European Union (EU) will help Bosnia and Herzegovina's banking system to weather the current crisis better, strengthen investor confidence, and return the economy to a robust growth path. The success of the macroeconomic reform program and medium-term balance of payments sustainability also depends significantly on the continued involvement of all banks operating in or with Bosnia and Herzegovina, including foreign-owned banks.

The banks (Hypo Alpe-Adria, Intesa SanPaolo, NLB Group, Raiffeisen International, UniCredit Bank Austria AG, and Volksbank International) issued a Concluding Statement on maintaining their overall exposure to the country and to ensure prudent capitalization of their subsidiaries. They agreed to continue close cooperation with a view to making progress towards making bilateral commitments in this respect. Along with the continued international financial support, this will help Bosnia and Herzegovina's banking system to weather the current crisis better, strengthen investor confidence, and return the economy to a robust growth path.

The European Bank Coordination Meeting for Bosnia and Herzegovina was chaired by the IMF. The World Bank Group, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Commission, the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina, members of the Fiscal Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Banking Agencies of Bosnia and Herzegovina, home country banking supervisors and/or ministries of finance (Austria, Germany, Italy, and Slovenia), and the European Central Bank (ECB) also attended the meeting.

CONTACT: Public Affairs, IMF external relations department Tel: +1 202 623 7300 Fax: +1 202 623 6278 Media Relations, IMF external relations department Tel: +1 202 623 7100 Fax: +1 202 623 6772 WWW: http://www.imf.org

((M2 Communications disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com.

Related terms: austria, bank, banking, bosnia, capitalization, finance, germany, herzegovina, imf, investment bank, italy, media, slovenia, unions, weather, web