Statement from the NBS Bank Board's 6th meeting of 2017

The Bank Board of Národná banka Slovenska today (14 March) held its 6th meeting of 2017, chaired by Jozef Makúch, the NBS Governor.

The Bank Board approved the audited financial statements of Národná banka Slovenska (NBS) prepared as at 31 December 2016.

NBS reported a profit of €147.025 million for 2016 (its profit for 2015 stood at €4.604 million). The profit was based mainly on interest income on bonds, which amounted to €111.272 million (the corresponding figure for 2015 was €159.957 million). This income comprised €66.151 million as net interest income, less withholding tax, from securities purchased for monetary policy purposes (€54.746 million in 2015) and €45.121 million as net interest income from securities held in NBS’s investment portfolios (€105.211 million in 2015). Withholding tax paid to the Slovak state budget on income from bonds issued in Slovakia amounted to €18.057 million (€2.202 million in 2015).

NBS’s net income from the redistribution of Eurosystem monetary income for 2016 was €67.098 million (€51.583 million in 2015). The bank’s result for 2016 included €10.604 million as its allocation under the interim distribution of the European Central Bank’s profit for 2016 (€8.913 million in 2015) and €2.959 million as its share in the ECB’s net profit for 2015 (in 2015 the share in the 2014 profit was €1.635 million).

NBS’s 2016 result was boosted by the Bank Board’s decision to reverse part, €30 million, of the general provision for financial risks, which as a result amounted to €630 million as at 31 December 2016 (€660 million as at 31 December 2015). This provision, which the Bank Board reviews each year, is intended to cover exchange rate risk, interest rate risk, credit risk and gold price risk.

Net expenditure on the production of euro banknotes and coins stood at €10.109 million (€6.668 million in 2015). In 2016 the bank commissioned the production of 82 million banknotes, 50.1 million circulation coins and 38 million collector coins (across five different coins).

Net operating and administrative expenses amounted to €61.956 million (€54.660 million in 2015). Wage and social expenses stood at €43.762 million, operating costs of buildings and equipment at €19.970 million and depreciation charges at €8.348 million, while operating income amounted to €10.124 million. The number of NBS employees averaged 1,063 in 2016 (1,046 in 2015).

Under the Bank Board’s decision of 14 March 2017 and in accordance with Article 39(4) of the Act on Národná banka Slovenska (‘the NBS Act’), the whole of NBS’s profit for 2016, amounting to €147.025 million was set off against losses accumulated from previous years.

In accordance with Article 39(5) of the NBS Act, the annual financial statements of Národná banka Slovenska, together with the independent auditor’s report and NBS’s management report for 2016, will be submitted to the Slovak Parliament.

The Bank Board approved the addition of a coin to the 2018 issue plan for Slovak commemorative and collector coins, namely a €10 silver collector coin commemorating the ‘Spontaneous, non-violent civic resistance to the Warsaw Pact invasion in August 1968’. The coin is due to be issued in August 2018.

Martina Solčányiová
NBS Spokesperson

National Bank of Slovakia
Communications Section
Imricha Karvasa 1, 813 25 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Tel.: +421-2-5787 2142, +421-2-5865 2142, +421-2-5787 2169, +421-2-5865 2169
Internet: http://www.nbs.sk

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