Total deposits in Montenegrin banks reached a new record at the end of July, amounting to 5.89 billion euros, an increase of around 340 million euros compared to the same period last year. Citizens hold 2.26 billion euros of this total.
Experts attribute the high deposits to strong public trust in banks, guaranteed access to funds, and limited alternatives for safe savings. Positive bank performance and high liquidity also support deposit growth. Interest rates on term deposits range from 1.4% to 2.5%, while average effective loan rates in July were around 6%.
Analysts note that the excess cash held by citizens could be leveraged by the state through domestic securities, which the government plans to issue this year for 50 million euros. Currently, deposits represent roughly 75% of Montenegro’s GDP and exceed the country’s net public debt by 1.7 billion euros.
Some experts also point to a large gap between deposit interest rates and lending rates, highlighting potential inefficiencies and practices resembling informal market cartels in the financial sector.
