Interest rates on overdraft increased again by some banks

After lowering interest rates on overdrafts on their clients' accounts in February at the recommendation of the National Bank of Serbia (NBS), certain banks increased them in March.

According to the data published on the NBS website, Cacanska banka, which charged the lowest interest rate on overdraft in February - 24 percent annually, now increased that interest rate to 25.47 percent per year.

VTB banka was also one of the banks to have increased the interest rate on overdraft, pushing it up from 24 percent in February to 29.14 percent in March, while UniCredit Bank increased it from 24.9 to 30.42 percent, and Intesa from 29.85 to 36.03 percent annually.

According to the data provided by the NBS, the lowest interest rates on overdraft are charged by Jubmes banka - 19.84%, Dunav banka - 20.2%, AIK banka - 23.98%, and KBC banka - 23.33%, whereas Eurobank Beograd has the highest interest rate on overdraft - 38.45%.

NBS Governor Jorgovanka Tabakovic gave a recommendation to banks in January 2014 to lower their interest rates on overdrafts on the current accounts of citizens because that form of lending in Serbia is still the most expensive in Europe, given that these interest rates can go up to 45% per year.