El Salvador: Loans to Private Sector Down $405 Million

©image: Quinn Dombrowski

Loans granted up to August summed $8.256 million, 4.7% less than the same period of 2008, when banks and financial entities loaned $8.662 million.

Claudio de Rosa is the former executive director of Abansa, the Banking Association of El Salvador. He told Elsalvador.com: "this severe reduction in credit to companies and individuals is mainly due to lack of confidence from the private sector".

Source: elsalvador.com

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Fewer Loans to Private Sector in El Salvador

April 2010

At the end of February the loan portfolio of Salvadoran banks was 4.6% smaller than the same month of 2009.

In February 2010 banks had a combined loan portfolio of $8.09 billion, down from $8.47 billion in February 2009.

Claudio de Rosa is the former CEO of ABANSA, the Association of Salvadoran Banks.

Loan Portfolio Continues to Decline in El Salvador

November 2010

In the third quarter of 2010 the loan portfolio closed at $ 8,274 million, $ 400 million less than the $8,670 million of the same period in 2009.

According to the Salvadoran Banking Association (Abansa), the structure of the loan portfolio as of August 2010 consisted of consumer loans which comprised 28% of the total, housing 25%, commerce 14%, manufacturing 8.7 %, services 7.3% and the rest for other sectors.

Panama: New Credit Cards Down 58%

September 2009

In the first half of the year, 4.458 new credit cards were issued, 6.969 less than the same period of 2008.

Total credit lines granted under this scheme summed $11.2 million, 52% less than in 2008, and 74% less than in 2007, according to data from the Panamanian Credit Association (ACP). Average credit for each new credit card was $2.520.

Salvadoran Banking Profits Down 13%

March 2009

In 2008, banking generated $128.3 million in earnings, $19.7 million less than the $148 million generated in 2007.

The statistics reported by the Salvadoran Banking Association indicated that the Industrial Bank was the one that had the most earnings last year, but it suffered a drop of $10 million in profits.