Local banks are solvent and citizens' savings are safe, Governor of the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) Dejan Soskic told Tanjug on Wednesday.

Serbian citizens should not yield to the negative atmosphere which was created in the public by incomplete and not sufficiently competent analyses of the developments in the Eurozone, which also affects people's confidence in the banking sector, the governor said.

The local banking sector is solvent and capable of meeting all its outstanding obligations fully and on time, the governor stated and added that citizens' savings are safe.

On top of this, all citizens' deposits of up to EUR 50.000 are insured and additional guarantees are embodied in banks' obligation to keep 25 or 30 per cent of savings as obligatory reserves with the NBS, depending on the maturity date.

Soskic advised citizens to avoid drawing rash and insufficiently well thought-out moves, especially as regards conversion of their euro savings into other foreign currencies because this will probably bring them considerable losses, mainly by means of lower interest revenues and future currency risks due to the instable currency exchange rates.

Soskic recalled that it is always safest for the citizens to deposit their savings in the currency in which the payment will be made, that is primarily the dinar or the euro, as the currencies in which a number of citizens took out loans.