The Slovak Ministry of Finance is sticking to an agreement with banks that it will reduce by 50 percent the level of payments they’re obligated to make to the state. As part of Slovakia’s EU Banking Union agreement, Slovak banks are required to transfer 0.4 percent of the volume of savings of Slovaks and Slovak companies to the state. In a previously concluded deal, the state agreed to reduce this amount once the amount collected rose to €500m. With this condition having been reached, the level of transfers is now being reduced to just 0.2 percent of all savings. The payments are made on a quarterly basis, and under the terms of the agreement, banks will be allowed to forego making a payment in the final quarter of this year, meaning they will end up paying in €150m over the course of 2014. The Slovak Banking Association has pointed out that despite the change, Slovak banks will still be paying the highest percentage towards the state-controlled fund of any in Europe.
