The entities of the International Banking Center of Panama generated during last year profits of $1.582 million, 4% more than reported in 2017.
The Superintendence of Banks of Panama (SBP) specify that during the last two years the profits of the 84 banks that operate in the International Banking Center (IBC) of Panama, grew by $70 million, going from $1,782 million in 2017 to $1,852 million in 2018.
Because of the slowdown in the issuance of loans, in 2018 the profits of banks in Costa Rica grew just 3% over what was recorded in 2017.
Figures from the Central Bank of Costa Rica show the deceleration reported in loans granted during the first nine months of last year, detailing that up to December 2017 the credit portfolio to the private sector registered an 8% year-on-year increase, while the indicator concerned up to September 2018 dropped to 5%.
If the Treasury's proposal succeeds, interest on bank deposits would incur 8% to 15%, while for revenues generated by mutual funds, the tax would rise from 5% to 15%.
This unification is due to the fact that currently there are different taxes for similar types of income, therefore the tax is not neutral, according to the CEO of Taxation. In the case of surplus cooperatives and solidarity associations, the project proposes "...
The growth in earnings of 17 banks operating in Costa Rica is higher than credit growth and is four times the country's economic growth.
According to an article in Elfinancierocr.com, "The good performance has been achieved with only a 4% increase in administrative costs and without increasing the size of bank deposits. On the contrary, liabilities have decreased by 2%, a reduction that has been led by public banks.
Panama’s equity financing costs (2.4%), together with those of El Salvador (1.6%) and Peru (2.0%) are the lowest in Latin America.
In the past 4 years the equity financing costs of the the National Banking System (NBS) in Panama have halved, going from 4.2% in 2007 to 2.2% in 2011, influenced by the international financial situation and low interest rates.
The difference in the interest paid by banks on deposits and loans can be as much as 22%.
Intermediation margins are a measure how a financial sector performs its mediation role and is one indicator of efficiency. Though there are various ways to calculate the figure, Costa Rica's margin is higher than in other economies.
Gabriela Mayorga López in Elfinancierocr.com comments on a study from the Costa Rican Banking Association (ABC in Spanish) that indicates that in June, "Banco Promérica recorded the largest colones margin with 21.8%. It was followed by Citi with 14.3% and Banco General with 14%. Banco Popular had the highest dollar margin with 7.8%".
Guatemalan Banks earned $61 million in February, 15% more than the $53 million earned during the same month in 2008.
According to the general manager of Banco de los Trabajadores, Ronald Garcia, the increase in profits was due to prudence and a reduction in financial service costs: "The opening of non-traditional channels such as electronic made services less expensive," the official told the newspaper La Prensa Libre of Guatemala.
According to data from the Superintendence of Banks, the banking sector earned the equivalent of 16.3% of its shareholder equity in profits.
PRENSALIBRE.com reports on its website: "For each $12.71 (Q100) that the banks have in capital, last year they earned an average of $2.07 (Q16.30), according to the report for December that was published by the SIB.
Despite the slowdown of the economy, banks reported on October 30 that they had an increase of 23% in comparison to October 2007.
The entity with the best results was Banrural, with $90 million (Q616.2 million) or an substantial increase compared tot he $73 million (Q559.3 million) recorded in the first ten months of last year.