The National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) has released data showing that banks in Slovakia upped their profit by a massive 79% in 1H 2011 compared to the same period last year.
The NBS put the astonishing improvement down chiefly to “extraordinary one-off revenues in selected banks,” as well as a drop in costs in enforcing defaulted loans, as the macroeconomic environment enjoyed a revival. An increase in the number of granted loans also helped, along with sharp hikes in interest rates.
The banks in Slovakia can be proud of these great results, but it becomes increasingly difficult for them to defend themselves against accusations of charging excessively high fees and among the biggest mortgage interest rates in Europe.