Decisions adopted by the Governing Board in its 324th regular meeting on 14 December 2005

1. At its today´s meeting, the Governing Board of the Bank of Slovenia got inter alia acquainted with the preparations of banks and savings banks for the enforcement of the euro. The reviews included different areas of the necessary adjustments (e.g. legal and information changes, business practices´ adjustments, notifying clients) and their compliance with the Action Plans of banks. Banks give adequate priority to the preparations for the enforcement of the euro, they created project organisation, the feasibility studies of these projects and the analyses of potential risks have been prepared.
   
2. The Governing Board of the Bank of Slovenia also dealt with the operation of banks in the first ten months of this year. The balance sheet total increased by full 17%. The increasing year-to-year growth of the balance sheet total reached a value in October 2005 which was twice larger than the value of the previous year. Compared to the same time period last year, the earnings of banks enhanced by nearly 10% in the first ten months in 2005. The growth of operational costs lagged behind that of the gross income. The interest margin was gradually decreasing in the first ten months to reach a level of 2.54% at the end of October. Banks improved the prudential structure of claims and reduced their riskiness.