Trends
Regarding regulation and supervision
- The most noteworthy point here is the tendency for countries near Bosnia-Herzegovina to follow its lead in terms of regulatory processes. The resulting changes in legislation are expected to bring rapid development to the sector throughout this area.
- It seems clear that microfinance forms part of the general financial system, and no setbacks are expected in this regard.
Regarding products and services
- Although the banking traditions of the European countries and their relative proximity to the EU might be expected to make it easier here than elsewhere to introduce products tried and tested in countries with more developed financial systems, there is no guarantee that any significant progress will be made in this matter in the short term.
- Designing more sophisticated products suited to new market niches, such as the farming and livestock market, is one of the challenges facing the sector.
- There does not seem to be increased attention on the part of any organisation with regard to the high prices of loans in some parts of Central Asia, where profitability levels are the highest in the world, so there is unlikely to be any process of reflection along the lines of that undertaken by some multilateral and bilateral organisations in Latin America.
