Slovene central.bank urges bank privatisation

LJUBLJANA: Slovenia should privatise its banks to ensure better management and cheaper loans, Bank of Slovenia Governor Marko Kranjec told daily Finance in an interview published on Monday.

"Certainly we cannot say that the state and its bureaucrats have more knowledge and wisdom than those who do business on a market," said Kranjec, who is also European Central Bank Governing Council member.

At present the government is majority owner of the country's two largest banks, Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB) and Nova KBM, which together control about 40 percent of the Slovenian market.

Kranjec said Slovenian companies can get the cheapest loans at local branches of foreign banks rather than at the state-owned banks.

Among foreign banks that operate in Slovenia are France's Societe Generale, Italy's Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo and Austrian banks Raiffeisen, Sparkasse and Hypo Bank, while Belgian banking and insurance group KBC owns 25 percent of NLB.

Copyright Reuters, 2011