Our listing of the Top 100 banks in Central Europe is again headed by the same two banks as last year, namely OTP Bank (National Savings and Commercial Bank) from Hungary and the majority state-owned PKO Bank Polski. 2006 was a quieter year for OTP on the acquisition front as it was frustrated in its attempt to buy the Romanian Savings Bank, losing out to the National Bank of Greece late last year. It also saw another potential acquisition target, DZI Bank, acquired by EFG Eurobank.
Retail continues to be the driver for banking sector growth with household credit as a percentage of GDP, while growing, remaining relatively low for the region compared with figures for western Europe. This potential for further growth is the continued attraction for western European banks.
