By Anna Grybel-Kloc

The Czech financial sector has been developing rapidly, stimulated to a great extent by the presence of large foreign financial institutions. Currently, almost 97% of banks in the country are foreign-owned (compared to 65% in Poland).

The total number of loans increased by 26.4% in 2007 and that represents the fastest growth since 1996. In 2007 banks realised their highest profits ever.

At the same time, the ratio of loans/ deposits remains well above the EU average and is higher than in Slovakia, Poland and Hungary.