SOFIA, Bulgaria -

Balkan countries' central bank chiefs agreed Friday that the global financial crisis would have a limited effect on the region.

"Currently banks that have strong presence in the region have no direct exposure to markets which are under severe pressure," central bankers from nine Balkan countries said in a joint statement.

"Southeast European economies continue to demonstrate strength, strong economic growth and resilience to the deteriorating global financial and economic environment," the statement said.

Central bank heads from Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia signed the statement after a meeting in Sofia.

Bulgarian central bank chief Ivan Iskrov, said no banks in the region owned securities of the type that caused problems in the U.S. He warned, however, that the crisis would have an indirect impact on the region by raising credit interest rates by an average of 1.5 percent.

Iskrov said that deposit guarantees were not discussed at the meeting, adding that the best guarantee was strict supervision of the banks.

The Greek government said Thursday it would fully guarantee all bank deposits in the country.

Finance Ministër George Alogoskoufis said the country's banking system was safe despite the global financial crisis, and that "citizens' deposits in all banks that operate in Greece are absolutely guaranteed."

A ministry official said Alogoskoufis' guarantee was a "political commitment" which would not be passed into legislation.

Under current law, the Greek government guarantees deposits of up to $28,000, and is considering raising that sum to $42,000.

The European Commission said Friday that Greece had not notified it of its decision to issue a blanket guarantee.

"We are in contact with the Greek authorities," Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd said.

Associated Press (c)