After El Salvador approved a legal framework that recognizes Bitcoin as a legal tender, the cryptocurrency exchange Coincaex announced that at the end of June it will open an office in the country.
Following the approval of the legal framework that recognizes Bitcoin as a legal tender in El Salvador, one out of two local businessmen are concerned that the circulation of the cryptocurrency is mandatory and one out of three are distrustful of this change in the laws.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of El Salvador carried out a survey among its members, businessmen in general and citizen consumers to know the expectations of the productive sector regarding the implementation of the cryptocurrency.
Between April 2020 and the same month of 2021, corporate credit to the local sector decreased 16% from $26,628 million to $22,386 million.
According to the report "Informe de Actividad Bancaria - Abril 2021", prepared by the Superintendence of Banks of Panama, consumer credit showed a 0.9% increase driven by mortgage credit.
In order to assess risks, verify regulation and other issues, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration will provide the Salvadoran government with advice on the implementation of the new cryptocurrency scheme, called Bitcoin.
Following the approval of the Bitcoin Law in El Salvador by the members of the Legislative Assembly, which creates a legal framework that recognizes this digital currency as legal tender in the country, the IMF warns that financial and legal risks have arisen.
Negotiable certificates of deposit, a new investment tool that was authorized in El Salvador, generates expectations because it promises to improve the yield of savings and may be processed with no need to register it in an agency.
The Standards Committee of the Central Reserve Bank (BCR) authorized on February 2, 2021 the new investment tool called negotiable certificates of deposit (CDN).
After multiple consultations, the Superintendency of Banks announced that virtual currencies or assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and other similar ones, are not legal tender in the country.
The Superintendency of Banks, derived from the different consultations made by economic and financial agents regarding the use of virtual currencies or assets, known as cryptocurrencies, informs the population that in accordance with the Monetary Law, the monetary unit of Guatemala is the Quetzal and only the Bank of Guatemala can issue banknotes and coins within the territory of the Republic, therefore virtual currencies are not legal tender in the country, explains an official statement.
The Congress approved by articles and final wording the Leasing Law, a legal framework that establishes mechanisms for people to lease with option to purchase.
With 101 votes in favor, the Plenary of the Congress of the Republic approved Decree 2-2021, Leasing Law, which regulates leasing with option to purchase in the Guatemalan legislation, informed the legislative body.
After the Nicaraguan Assembly approved a bill that forces local banks to allow public officials sanctioned by OFAC to have an account, there are fears that the country will be isolated from the international financial system.
A statement issued by the National Assembly on February 3 explains that the deputies approved the Law Initiative of Reform and Addition to the Law for the Protection of the Rights of Consumers and Users, a legislative project which guarantees a better and greater protection of the rights of consumers and users in the access to goods and services as a human right recognized by the Nicaraguan State.
In Costa Rica, a good part of the population is significantly indebted, since it is estimated that two out of every five consumers dedicate 38% or more of their monthly income to debt repayment.
The Office of the Financial Consumer (OFC) conducted during November 2020, the first survey of "Indebtedness of Costa Rican households", for which 1,200 people from all over the country, aged between 18 and 65 years old, were interviewed.
In order to face the crisis generated by the covid-19 outbreak, Costa Rica extended until December 31, 2021 the measure that allows clients of financial institutions to benefit from extensions, refinancing and readjustments without the need to carry out debtor stress analysis.
According to Conassif, additionally, banks were asked to reapply their internal policies for measuring the payment capacity of each client as of April 1, 2021.
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.
By the first half of 2021 all maximum annual interest rates that are estimated by the Central Bank will decrease compared to those imposed in the second half of 2020.
On January 8, 2021 the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR) published, on its website and in the official newspaper La Gaceta, the new maximum annual interest rates for credit operations in colones, US dollars and other currencies.
The law regulating the service of information on the credit history of consumers in the country was published in the Official Gazette.
After the legislative plenary approved in third debate initiative 424, which modifies Law 24 of 2002 related to this system of registration in the Panamanian Association of Credits (APC), in the last days of 2020 the Executive approved the bill.
In the last few months, interest in credit cards has been increasing in the digital environment, a rise that is mainly explained by the behavior of consumers in Panama, Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica.
Through a system monitoring changes in consumer interests and preferences in Central American countries in real time, developed by CentralAmericaData, it is possible to project short and long term demand trends for the different products, sectors and markets operating in the region.
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