In recent days in some exchange offices and banks in Serbia the sale rate of the euro broke 120 dinars. Now it is National Bank of Serbia (NBS) decided to stand in the way of that, by abolishing the possibility of charging a commission.
So, for example, in some exchange offices it could happen that you get less than the amount you should if you just looked course, but you didn't pay attention to whether it says on the paper that an additional commission is included.
Until now, that additional commission could amount to an additional one percent of the formed course in exchange offices, but the NBS decided to temporarily cancel the possibility of charging such a commission when selling euros to citizens.
"Psychological" measure
The decision, as announced by the NBS, was made in order to protect the interests of citizens and prevent unjustified psychological pressure on the foreign exchange market.
"The National Bank of Serbia indicates that the amount of around 120 dinars per euro, which only appeared on exchange boards at certain exchange offices and was then shared among the public as a psychological trigger for panic, was not formed on the basis of market trends, but was only possible in the case when the exchange office simultaneously applied the maximum allowed deviation of the sales rate from the middle rate of 1,25 percent, as well as the maximum commission allowed by law of one percent," the statement said.
In the future, exchange offices will be able to set the exchange rate for the euro as before - with a permitted deviation from the selling average exchange rate of 1,25 percent, but they will not be able to additionally "incorporate" a commission of one percent.
What do the money changers say about the new decision?
Borislav Brujić from the Association of Money Exchangers of Serbia tells "Vreme" that such a decision is justified and that the majority of money changers have not used the possibility of selling euros with a commission.
"We have a permitted range of 1,25 percent plus and minus compared to the average exchange rate. We can operate within that range. This one percent commission can be added to that established exchange rate. The exchange office does not use it and has no commission. It is mostly used by exchange offices that are in frequent places and who write on their exchange rate lists in small, unnoticeable letters that they include the commission," explains Brujić.
The exchange where he works, as well as 95 percent of others, have never used the possibility of calculating the commission, he says.
The measure adopted by the NBS does not have a predetermined time limit and will be applied as long as market circumstances require it, and the National Bank of Serbia will continuously monitor the situation and decide on its abolition at the moment of complete stabilization, the announcement reads.
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