Household savings in Serbia increased to approximately €19.5 billion, supported by faster growth in dinar deposits and continued accumulation of foreign-currency funds. The National Bank of Serbia (NBS) reported that dinar savings rose 21% since the beginning of the year, strengthening domestic bank funding despite the continued dominance of euro deposits.
Dinar savings reached approximately RSD 250 billion (€2.13 billion), an increase of RSD 42.8 billion (€364 million). Foreign-currency savings grew by €1.3 billion, or 7.9%, to €17.4 billion.
Dinar Deposits Increase as Euro Savings Retain Dominance
Dinar deposits accounted for approximately 11% of total household savings at the end of September, compared with 1.9% in September 2012. Their value increased almost fourteenfold over that period.
The strongest growth came from deposits with maturities of six to twelve months, which increased by RSD 29.3 billion (€249 million) and represented 57.6% of total dinar savings. Deposits with maturities of three to six months increased by approximately €104 million, while demand savings rose by around €58 million.
The NBS attributed the expansion of dinar savings to macroeconomic stability, relatively predictable exchange-rate conditions and attractive interest rates on domestic-currency deposits. Despite this growth, foreign-currency savings remained more than eight times larger than dinar deposits when expressed in euros, reflecting the euro’s established role in household savings, property prices, financial contracts and major purchases.
Deposit Growth Supports Bank Funding
Higher household deposits strengthen the funding base of commercial banks and can support lending to businesses and households. A larger dinar deposit base also creates opportunities to expand domestic-currency financing and reduce currency mismatches.
Banks must manage differences between deposit maturities and loan repayment periods while maintaining sufficient liquidity. Competition for customer deposits also affects funding costs. Higher deposit interest rates can attract savings but reduce net interest margins if lending rates decline or fail to adjust accordingly.
This creates a commercial balance between securing stable funding and maintaining profitability, particularly for banks financing working capital, mortgages, corporate investment and infrastructure projects. The increase in deposits therefore improves the sector’s liquidity position but does not automatically translate into higher banking-sector earnings.
Savings Concentrated in Larger Accounts
The distribution of deposits shows a significant difference between the number of savings accounts and the value of funds held in them. The average dinar savings balance stood at approximately RSD 223,000 (€1,900) per account. Accounts containing up to RSD 10,000 (€85) represented 82.6% of all dinar savings accounts, but accounted for only 0.2% of total dinar deposits.
Excluding these smaller accounts, the average dinar savings balance increased to approximately €11,100. Foreign-currency savings displayed a similar structure. The average balance was approximately €4,500 per account, while accounts holding less than €500 represented 71.4% of all foreign-currency savings accounts but only 0.6% of their total value.
Excluding those accounts, the average foreign-currency balance exceeded €15,600. These figures describe the distribution of deposits across accounts rather than household wealth, as individuals may hold multiple accounts. For banks, larger deposit relationships are relevant to funding stability, customer retention and wealth-management services.
Inflation and Exchange-Rate Stability Influence Savings Decisions
Serbia’s annual consumer-price inflation reached 4.1%, while average inflation during the first nine months stood at 2.8%, according to the NBS. The real return on household savings depends on inflation, deposit interest rates, taxation and currency movements. Dinar deposits may offer higher nominal returns than euro deposits, but their attractiveness also depends on confidence in exchange-rate stability.
A predictable exchange rate can encourage households to hold more savings in dinars when interest-rate differences compensate for perceived currency risks. Greater exchange-rate uncertainty can instead strengthen demand for foreign-currency deposits. The NBS continues to intervene in the foreign-exchange market to limit excessive currency volatility, while the long-term objective remains reducing structural dependence on foreign currencies.
