Ljubljana, 19 December (STA) - MPs unanimously passed on Thursday legislative amendments which bring a gradual raising of the target size of the central bank-managed deposit guarantee fund from the current 0.8% to 1.5% of all guaranteed deposits in Slovenia by the end of 2030. The upper limit of deposit coverage in special circumstances will be EUR 500,000.
The deposit guarantee fund compensates depositors in the event of a bank's or savings bank's bankruptcy, and Finance Ministry State Secretary Nikolina Prah told the MPs that the amendments strengthened the fund's ability to do this.
The government's proposal of the gradual increase by the end of 2030 means that the fund's resources will grow from roughly EUR 200 million to EUR 400 million.
"The bailout of the Slovenian subsidiary of Sberbank in March 2022 showed us that in the event of the bankruptcy of a small bank, the need to pay out guaranteed deposits may exceed the available funds ... despite the fact that the target size of the fund was achieved this July."
Even though additional funds can be provided from other sources in the short term, the government deems the increase in the target size the most sustainable solution, Prah said.
The scheme currently guarantees up to EUR 100,000 per depositor per bank, or more in some cases, but the changes will set the cap at EUR 500,000 in some cases and within a limited period of six months.
What is also new is the possibility to use funds from the national bank resolution fund in cases when the deposit guarantee fund's resources prove insufficient during a bank failure in a bid to further reduce the risk of being unable to secure the funds for deposit payouts.
The amendments to the deposit guarantee scheme act were backed in a show of cross-aisle support, with the junior opposition party New Slovenia (NSi) abstaining and unaffiliated MPs either being absent or abstaining.
