The rise and growth of Serbian banking until World war I: Part one: Creation of preconditions for the rise of Serbian banking until 1878

Abstract

The development of Serbian banking during the 19th century was a gradual process that underwent two distinctive stages with the turning point in 1878 when Serbia became an independent state by the international agreement concluded at the Berlin Peace Conference. In the first stage, until 1878, the vassal state of Serbia had been introducing necessary political, economic and institutional preconditions for the rise of banking that led to the creation of the first organized credits and banks. At the end of this stage, there were two types of proper banks: state banks and privately-owned banks. Since the authorities of the vassal state of Serbia played a key role in preparing institutional framework for the banking operations and in organizing the first credit facilities, it could be argued that Serbian banking arose in the 19th century as a result of both state-backed and growthinduced processes.

Keywords

• banking
• organized credits
• interest rates
• usury
• paid-up capital
• the vassal state of Serbia