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Banking sector overview | Banking today and tomorrow | October 2023

20 October 2023 | Banking today and tomorrow, Knowledge, News

Monetary Policy Council cuts interest rates again

The Monetary Policy Council has decided to lower interest rates for the second time in a row. This time it is only a 25 bp cut. A month ago, the MPC shocked the market by cutting rates by as much as 75 bp.

Source: Bankier.pl

Banks on the rise. Sector profits up almost 125 % between January and August

The banking sector’s net profit in January-August was PLN 18.53 billion, up 124.6% year-on-year, according to the National Bank of Poland. In August alone, the sector recorded a net profit of PLN 4.03 billion.

Source: Bankier.pl

Polish banking sector stable. High ROE ratio

The banking sector’s return on equity was 11.51% at the end of July, compared with 9.12% in June and 1.90% in July 2022, according to a study by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority.

Source: Bankier.pl

Poles’ appetite for ‘Safe Mortgages’ is growing, with agreements worth almost PLN 7 billion already signed. “We will increase the fund if necessary”.

65.6 thousand applications for ‘Safe Mortgages’ have already been submitted and banks have concluded agreements worth PLN 6.9 billion, the Ministry of Development and Technology told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) on Monday. Minister Waldemar Buda assures that the programme is not in jeopardy and that the fund from which the subsidies are paid will be increased if necessary.

Source: Bankier.pl

Behind the scenes of the VeloBank takeover battle. It will be a Polish-American fight

Potential buyers of VeloBank will soon begin to investigate its financial situation. The richest Pole, Michał Sołowow, and US investment funds managing billions of dollars worldwide will fight to take over the bank, according to Business Insider Polska. No banking group has shown interest in buying Leszek Czarnecki’s former business.

Read more: Business Insider

Poland’s largest bank sets out to conquer a new market

Poland’s largest bank is entering another market. Local media report that PKO BP intends to open a branch in Romania. The bank has hired a manager who will be responsible for the Polish financial institution’s entry into the country.

Source: Business Insider

The National Bank of Poland published a report on cash turnover in 2022. During the eight days of the war, banks withdrew PLN 42 billion from the NBP

Opinion polls show that almost 51% of Poles now prefer cashless transactions to cash transactions.

The National Bank of Poland has published a report on cash transactions in 2022. Among other things, it points out that in a reality that is changing thanks to technological advances and in which cashless payments are playing an increasingly important role, cash is still an important part of the payment landscape in Poland and is “increasingly gaining importance as a means of precautionary accumulation of value”.

Read more: Cashless.pl

Fitch Ratings positive on Europe’s largest banks

According to a new report by Fitch Ratings, the position of Europe’s largest banks is strong enough to withstand the adverse economic outlook and the various risks that could arise in the coming year.

The 20 largest banks under review performed well in the first half of 2023. However, in the second half of the year, they began to face a number of adverse developments, such as higher operating and funding costs and rising loan loss provisions.

Source: Bank.pl

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