FIRST EUR15 MILLION IN BOSNIA'S BANKS

SARAJEVO, Jan 3 (Hina) - Bosnia and Herzegovina's Central Bank on Thursday distributed the first EUR15 million to the country's business banks. Said amount was purchased in mid-December. The Central Bank is charging business banks for brokerage a minimum commission, 0.1 percent. Another EUR34 million should arrive around the 15th of January, Central Bank vice governor Ljubisa Vladusic told reporters in Sarajevo. He is confident the Central Bank will manage to meet the whole demand for the euro. Business banks may order the necessary amount of the European currency by themselves, he reminded. The Central Bank has urged citizens to exchange the currencies of the countries which adopted the euro by Feb. 15 in order to avoid further complications and having to pay higher commissions. The introduction of the euro and the withdrawal of the German mark have significantly contributed to the strengthening of the Bosnian currency, the convertible mark. Vladusic reminded that in the last weeks of 2001, many citizens had decided not to wait for the euro, exchanging the German for convertible mark. At present, the Central bank does not have data as to the exact amount of foreign currency which appeared in regular monetary courses due to the introduction of the euro, but it is assumed Bosnia's residents might thus circulate more than five billion marks from their secret funds. (hina) ha