For 2021, some of the financial institutions competing in the Costa Rican market are betting on placing loans for the purchase of homes, consumer loans and business financing.
In Costa Rica, home purchase loans were already showing positive signs at the end of 2020, since in November of last year the amount of the loan portfolio in question reported a 7% year-on-year increase.
Managers of Costa Rica's financial institutions predict that due to the health crisis the country is going through, the demand for credit from companies and families will continue to fall in the coming months.
Figures from the Central Bank of Costa Rica state that between March 2019 and the same month in 2020, the balance of money lent by public and private banks to companies and families decreased by 2.3%, from $28,559 million to $27,908 million.
Although the downward adjustments made months ago in the bank reserve and monetary policy rate do not yet appear to have had an effect on the loan portfolio in Costa Rica, banks expect credit to be reactivated soon.
After the exchange rate closed on August 23 at ₡565,88 per dollar in the wholesale market MONEX, an upward trend has been reported since then, reaching ₡581,33 per dollar on September 5, which could be the result of a lower participation of the Central Bank in the exchange market.
Official figures from the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR) report that between early February and mid-August of this year, there has been a fall of up to 48 colones per dollar, when reporting a drop in the average rate in the wholesale market Monex from ₡613,87 to ₡565,88.
Between May and September 2018, an increase was reported in the proportion of loans with payment arrears greater than 90 days, but between October and December the trend was downwards.
Data from the General Superintendence of Financial Entities (Sugef) indicate that between September and December 2018, the proportion of loans with payment arrears greater than 90 days, or in judicial collection, decreased from 2.58% to 2.14%.
In Costa Rica, the currency depreciation persists, with the exchange rate reaching ¢616 in the windows of some banks and ¢610 in the Monex wholesale market.
The increasing trend of the exchange rate in Costa Rica is not stopping. According to data from the Central Bank, between September 27 and October 30 in the wholesale market Monex the Colon has registered a considerable devaluation against the U.S.
Scotiabank has announced that on July 3 it had formally completed a merger with Citibank, meaning that its client base will increase from 110,000 to 282,000.
For six-month term savings in colones, the Central Bank in Costa Rica is offering a return of 8.10%, a rate that is higher than that available at commercial banks.
In order to attract money from savers in colones in six months terms, the rates currently offered by financial institutions are 8.10% in the case of the Central Bank (Banco Central), 6.85% at Banco Nacional, 6.75% at Banco de Costa Rica and 6.40% in Promérica.
Interest rates on bank loans have increased by between 0.11% and 6.6% in the last year, and those for loans for construction, livestock and commerce, are where the highest increases have been recorded.
Data published by the Central Bank of Costa Rica indicates that in the case of construction loans, interest rates went from around 11% at the beginning of the year to almost 18% last week.
The brokerage Scotia Valores, a subsidiary of Scotiabank, has announced its deregistration from the National Stock Exchange and its exit from the local stock market.
Scotia Valores, a subsidiary of Scotiabank, will stop operating as part of a strategic decision by the Canadian group in Costa Rica, where it will focus on developing its banking business further.
The process of selecting trustees for the construction and operation of a major road work is running out of participants.
In February, when the law enabled the use of a trust to finance and build the road from San Ramon to San Jose, seven banks expressed interest in participating in the process, but now, following Banco Nacional´s decision to withdraw a few months ago, two other private banks have also decided to step aside.
The speed with which the granting of bank loans is growing in the country went from a rate of 16% in March 2014 to 8% in the same month this year.
Elfinancierocr.com reports that "... Dollar loans by state banks are showing the most dramatic fall. Over a year ago they were growing at a buoyant pace by 36%, and within months, it has come down to a decrease of 2%.
The new Central Bank methodology which establishes preferential rates for large public sector deposits could influence other rates in the financial system.
The new methodology implemented by the Central Bank of Costa Rica aims to set benchmarks for public banks to provide preferential rates to state entities, but which "... at the same time, do not have excessive returns so that the market does not feel pressure to up rates. "
Up to April 30, 2014 the number of cards in circulation amounted to 1,764,609, 2% more than at the end of January of the same year.
From a press release issued by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Trade of Costa Rica:
According to data from the latest survey by the Directorate of Economic and Market Research of the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC), defaults decreased by 3%, corresponding to a delay of payment over 90 days, compared to the previous study.