Legal or natural persons who apply for the moratorium on loan payments in Panama must prove to the banking institutions that they have been economically affected by the outbreak of covid-19 and that they cannot cancel their quotas.
Consistent with the trend of recent months, mortgage and personal loans again represented most of the 5% increase in credit to the private sector up to November 2018.
According to the latest report of the Superintendence of Banks, in November last year the portfolio of loans granted to the private sector totaled $54.626 million, which is equivalent to an increase of 5.3% over the $51.873 million reported in November 2017.
Mortgage and personal loans continue to determine a significant part of the 5% increase in domestic credit to the private sector, recorded between July 2017 and the same month in 2018.
More recent data from the Superintendence of Banks, up to the seventh month of the year the credit portfolio of the private sector reached $52,607 million, which is equivalent to an increase of 5.4% with respect to the $49,921 million reported up to July 2017.
In the eighth month of 2018, credit granted by Guatemalan banks to the private sector totaled $26,168 million, 5% more than was reported between January and August of 2017.
The latest figures from Banco de Guatemala show that credit to the private sector in the eighth month of 2018 grew by 4.8% with respect to the same month in 2017, rising from $24.970 million to $26.168 million.This increase was below the increase of 5.1% registered between August 2016 and 2017.
Up to July 2018, credit granted by Guatemalan banks to the private sector totaled $26.06 billion, 4.5% more than was reported in the same month in 2017.
The most recent data from Banco de Guatemala shows that credit to the private sector in the seventh month of 2018 grew by 4.5% compared to the same month in 2017, rising from $24.611 billion to $24.942 billion.This increase was below the increase of 5.3% registered between July 2016 and 2017.
Mortgages and personal loans were largely responsible for the increase in domestic credit to the private sector, registered between March 2017 and the same month of 2018.
The most recent figures from the Superintendency of Banks reported that in the third month of the year the private sector's credit portfolio totaled $51.668 billion, which is equivalent to an increase of 6.2% compared to the $48.665 billion reported up to March 2017.
During January in Nicaragua, the gross portfolio of the financial system totaled $5.371 billion, 14% more than in the same month in 2017, explained in part by the performance of commercial credit.
The Central Bank of Nicaragua reported that "...The sectors with the highest representation in the portfolio are commercial credit and personal loans, with both sectors accounting for 55.4 percent of the total portfolio. On the other hand, the portfolio at risk and the past due portfolio continue to register levels below the rest of the Central America, Dominican Republic and Panama (CAPARD) region."
Over the past year, the gross portfolio of the financial system totaled $5.323 billion, 14% more than in 2016, explained in part by the performance of commercial credit.
Regarding the activities financed, the Central Bank of Nicaragua (BCN) reported that at the end of 2017 "... commercial credit and personal loans remained the most representative, with both sectors adding up to 55.4 percent of the total portfolio. These sectors showed year-on-year growth of 10.6 and 12.1 percent, respectively."
Due to an increase in commercial credit and personal loans, the gross portfolio totaled $5.480 billion up to November 2017, 15% more than in the same month in 2016.
According to a Report on the Performance of the National Financial System, published by the Central Bank of Nicaragua in November 2017, the financial system increased its financial assets by 16%, while the credit portfolio grew by 15%, both in year-on-year terms.
As of April, the gross loan portfolio of the financial system totaled $4,982 million, recording a year-on-year growth of 18%.
Personal credit led the year-on-year growth with 22.3%, followed by credit cards with a rate of 19.8%, however, this sector only represents 7.2% of the total portfolio.
In September the banking loan portfolio to the private sector recorded an increase of 17% compared to the same month last year.
Despite the political turmoil that the country has seen so far this year, bank credit portfolios have maintained positive figures and growth rates above 10%. The total loan portfolio in the banking system registered an annual increase of 13.9% in September this year, highlighting not only the growth of credit to businesses, but also for consumers, a category which grew by 15.7%.
The scare liquidity of colones explains the lower growth of loans in this currency, while credit growth in dollars continues to lose strength.
Added to the diminished liquidity in colones putting downward pressure on credit growth in that currency, is uncertainty at enterprise-level over recent changes in the exchange rate and lower credit demand for real estate projects, power generation and tourism, as explained by bankers to Nacion.com.
Between January and November 2013 credit to the private sector increased by 14% compared to the same period in 2012.
Personal consumption and trade were the sectors that experienced the largest growth in the period under review, beating construction loans and mortgages. Overall, the banking system awarded $24,815,000 in loans to the private sector.
Between January and November 2013, Panamanian banks gave out 14% more loans than in the same period of 2012.
Statistics from the Superintendency of Banks of Panama (SBP), reveal that during the first 11 months of 2013, the National Banking System (SBN by its initials in Spanish) gave out 14% more loans than in the same period of 2012, with its balance being $24.8154 billion.
One third of Panamanians have on average three loans, and they make payments on them with an acceptable default rate.
About 1.2 million Panamanians have loans, of which 85% are employees.
According to Luz María Salamina, general manager of the Panamanian Credit Association (CPA), "... each one of those people involved is granted an average of three loans, which makes Panama one of the most bankerized economies in the region. "