How much can I borrow?
Most calculators start from the loan amount and give you the payment. This one runs the other way: you say what you can pay each month, add the interest rate and the term, and it works out the loan that payment supports. That is the question people ask before talking to a bank — when you know what fits your month but not what it is worth as a loan.
How the amount follows from the payment
monthly rate = annual ÷ 12 ÷ 100payment to the loan = payment − monthly feeamount = payment to the loan × (1 − (1 + rate)^−instalments) ÷ rate
This is the annuity formula the instalment calculator uses, read backwards. The usual calculation knows the amount and looks for the payment; here the payment is known and the amount is what is missing. That is why the result can be checked: put the amount back into the instalment calculator at the same rate and term and your own payment comes out.
If you already know the amount you need, go the other way — the loan instalment calculator takes the amount and gives you the payment, the schedule and the total interest.
A monthly loan-administration fee, where the bank charges one, comes off the payment first. The reason is simple: a fee repays no principal. Someone who can set aside 400 KM a month and whose bank charges 5 KM is really servicing a 395 KM instalment — and the loan is 450.37 KM smaller. Over 120 instalments that 5 KM fee is 600.00 KM paid out that never reduced the debt.
Example: 400 KM a month, 6%, 10 years
A payment of 400 KM at a nominal 6% over 120 instalments supports a loan of 36,029.38 KM. Across those ten years you pay 48,000.00 KM, of which 11,970.62 KM is interest. The amount and the interest are two different figures that are easy to confuse: the interest is not added on top of 36,029.38 KM, it is already inside what you pay.
The rate moves the amount more than people expect. At the same payment and the same term, the gap between 4% and 7% is nearly 5,000 KM of borrowing — with the payment unchanged the whole time. That is why „how much can I get“ has no single answer until the rate in an actual offer is known.
The table below holds the 400 KM payment and the 120-instalment term still, and changes only the rate.
| Rate | Loan amount | Total interest |
|---|---|---|
| 4 % | 39,508.07 KM | 8,491.93 KM |
| 5 % | 37,712.54 KM | 10,287.46 KM |
| 6 % | 36,029.38 KM | 11,970.62 KM |
| 7 % | 34,450.54 KM | 13,549.46 KM |
The term is the other lever, and a dearer one than it looks
At the same 400 KM payment and 6%, five years supports 20,690.22 KM, seven years 27,381.22 KM, ten years 36,029.38 KM and fifteen years 47,401.41 KM. Stretching the term raises what you can borrow, but not in a straight line — every extra five years adds less than the last.
The interest runs the other way and grows faster. Over five years you pay 3,309.78 KM of interest; over fifteen, 24,598.60 KM — more than seven times as much for an amount barely more than double. That trade-off is what this page makes visible: a longer term means a bigger loan at the same payment and markedly more interest.
If this is about buying a property, check the same amount in the mortgage calculator, where the deposit is part of the sum.
What this calculator does not know
It does not assess creditworthiness and it is not a bank offer. A bank looks at income, existing debts, employment and security, and decides by its own criteria how much to approve — which can differ from bank to bank for the same person.
There is no rule about what share of a salary may go to an instalment. Such percentages are widely quoted, but they are each bank's internal policy, they are not the same across countries and none of them is verified here, so we deliberately do not state one. You judge the payment, against what you can genuinely set aside once existing obligations are covered.
The rate is nominal, as everywhere else on the site. The effective rate (APR, EKS here) also folds in fees under the regulator's methodology and is not what this page computes. According to the Central Bank of BiH, you have to be told that rate before the contract is signed, and it is set out clearly in the contract and in the repayment plan. Round the amount down at the end and leave room: a payment that sits exactly at your limit has no slack for a rate change or an unplanned cost.
Frequently asked questions
What payment should I enter?
The one you can genuinely set aside every month once existing obligations are covered — not a maximum someone calculates for you. The calculator deliberately offers no percentage of salary: that is each bank's own policy and we do not invent one. If you are unsure, try two payments and compare the amounts.
Does this mean the bank will approve that amount?
No. This is the arithmetic of an instalment, not an approval decision. The bank assesses income, existing debts and security by its own criteria, and the amount can come out lower or higher. Use the result to prepare for the conversation, not as a confirmation.
Why does a monthly fee reduce the loan?
Because the fee goes to the bank and repays no principal. If you can set aside 400 KM and 5 KM of it is the fee, 395 KM services the loan and the amount falls from 36,029.38 KM to 35,579.01 KM. Across 120 instalments the fee is 600.00 KM that never reduced the debt.
Is this the effective rate?
No. It works with the nominal interest rate. The effective rate includes fees and costs under the regulator's methodology, so the two figures cannot be compared directly. According to the Central Bank of BiH, the client must be given the effective rate before the contract is signed — and it is the bank that works it out, not this page.
How is this different from the instalment calculator?
The direction. The instalment calculator starts from the amount and gives the payment; this one starts from the payment and gives the amount. The formula is the same, so the result can be checked: the amount from here, entered there, returns exactly your payment.