Until May 21, 2025, the plan to grant preferential interest rates for mortgage loans in the country was extended.
On May 20, Law No. 85 was published in Gaceta Oficial, which was approved by the National Assembly in April of this year and sanctioned this week by President Juan Carlos Varela.
In Costa Rica a law proposal pretends to reduce by 50% the bank fees on loans for businesses and SMEs, as well as credits for social housing and lower class.
The law project, which was presented to the Congress by the representative, Yorleny Leon, aims to reduce fees in the formalization of bank loans, which currently range between 8% and 10% of total credit.
Up to February 2018, the growth rate of bank loans for trade, services, consumption and housing activities decreased considerably compared to the same period last year.
According to figures from the Central Bank of Costa Rica, between February 2017 and the same month of this year, the annual growth rate of credit granted by the financial system to the private sector fell from 13% to 7%.
At the end of last year the banking system's loan portfolio ended up with a balance of $66,117 million, just 1.4% more than the $65,187 million reported at the end of 2016.
The Comptroller General of the Republic reported that the moderate increase is partly explained by a contraction recorded by the external sector's portfolio, as between 2016 and 2017 it dropped from $16,557 to $14,560, which is equivalent to a 12% drop.
In Costa Rica the index of activity in the construction sector has had 4 consecutive months of downturn, and now faces the threat of new financial rules which will make access to credit more costly.
The construction sector's main concern is the impact that interest rates will have on the new standards which financial institutions will need to comply with.They are predicting an increase in credit costs primarily because of the new rules already in force and which determine that for institutions that lend money"... The minimum percentage level of the countercyclical estimate required is 0.33%. Each entity must register on a monthly basis expenditure equivalent to a minimum of 7% of its profits, until it reaches an optimum level defined by the Sugef. "
Financing for housing and sustainable urban development will be the topics under discussion at the event to be held on August 22 and 23 in Managua.
The Chamber of Builders in Nicaragua and the Inter-American Housing Union are organizing the event, which will bring together professional financial real estate companies, developers and builders, banks and finance companies, savings and loans companies for housing, cooperatives, investors, and representatives of public entities.
Competition, interbank interest rates and a stable exchange rate are the reasons for the growth of the housing loan portfolio in the first quarter of 2016.
An article on Elfinancierocr.com reports that "... Housing credit has been growing at safe rate since the start of 2016 and this market is expected to remain this way for the rest of the year ...
Up to December 2015 28% of the total banking portfolio was destined for consumption activities, 26% to the construction sector and 16% to service activities.
Financial Monitoring figures compiled by the Commercial Intelligence unit at CentralAmericaData com show that credit unions are the institutions who awarded the most loans of this type, with 29.8% of their total portfolio.
In the last three years there has been a decline in the amount of credit granted to private companies for purchasing property, land and construction of buildings.
In September 2014, on average, 834 transactions were formalized between banks and other financial companies, representing a decrease of 28% compared to the same month in 2013. The downward trend in granting of loans for these purposes has been observed since early 2012.
The Social Housing Fund wants to revive the housing market by reducing interest rates for the purchase of new or used homes by 5.5%.
In the case of loans to public institutions for the purchase of new houses, the rates will drop from 6.05% to 5.50%, while for private loans for new houses, the rate will be reduced from 8.5% to 8 % for amounts ranging between $31,000 and $125,000.
The Inter-American Development Bank has loaned $35 million to a cooperative to be used to grant housing loans under $109,000.
Of the total loan, $25 million will be administered by the National Cooperative of Educators (Coopenae) and the remaining $10 million by other entities.
The manager Coopenae Housing, José Manuel Salazar told Nacion.com that "...
The balance of loans granted by the banking system to the construction sector increased from $2.598 billion in April 2012 to $3.830 billion in the same month this year.
Loans for infrastructure were the only ones which showed a reduction in the period in question, going from $593 million to $377 million. Loans for housing, businesses and other categories showed increases.
The Chamber of Builders has recorded eight projects for luxury housing in the country with retail prices ranging from $100 thousand to $450 thousand.
The Chamber of Builders of Nicaragua (Cadur), argues that housing designed for more affluent people have had good sales. Currently there are eight projects of this type recorded in Managua and there are an estimated eight more that are not part of Cadur, with prices ranging from $100 thousand to $450 thousand.
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.
español
5893
