CONTRIBUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF BANKS - BELGRADE TO THE PROMOTION OF THE BANK AGRICULTURAL LOAN IN THE KINGDOM OF SERBS, CROATS AND SLOVENES

Expert contributions
Autor: Prof. Dragana Gnjatovic PhD

Summary: As a consequence of the agrarian crisis that hit the Kingdom of SCS in the second half of 1920s, a problem occurred within the boundaries of old Serbia concerning the regular repayment of agricultural debts. Starting from the assumption that debt-related difficulties of the farmers were to be blamed on the banks which charged high interest, certain members of the Parliament sent their legal projects to the Assembly which deeply interfered with the existing relations between debtors and creditors. In these projects the state promised the farmers to institute a general measure of extending debt repayment deadlines and reducing interest rates. Simultaneously, farmers would be allowed to take bill of exchange loans from credit cooperatives and public institutions, but not from private banks. Rising against the destruction of debtor-creditor relations in the country, the Association of Banks - Belgrade proposed a radical reform of the agricultural lending system that would finally enable the farmers under the jurisdiction of Serbian laws to finally access cheap bank credits. The reform initiated by the Association of Banks was to be fully implemented in 1929 when the Privileged Agrarian Bank was established.

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