The foreign currency portfolio reached US$6.24 billion in 2022, the highest level in six years, said Alejandro Fernández
The increase in the banks’ credit portfolio in dollars is an indicator that the expectations of economic agents about the economy have improved, affirmed the Superintendent of Banks, Alejandro Fernández.
The foreign currency portfolio grew 29.2% at the end of 2022, reaching US$6.24 billion, and shows the highest level in six years, Fernández said.
By participating in the Today Economic Meeting, along with Elbin Francisco Cuevas, Deputy Manager of Supervision; Yulianna Ramón, assistant manager of Regulation and Innovation, and Stefan Bolta, director of Economic Studies, the official said that there has been a very significant increase in the dollar credit portfolio for companies.
He explained that to the extent that access to credit in pesos is more expensive, people evaluate borrowing in dollars.
He pointed out that in the first part of last year it was cheaper to borrow in dollars than in pesos for two reasons: the dollar weakened in relation to the peso and the interest rate differential between loans in dollars and loans in pesos.
Bank credit shows, despite the more restrictive monetary policy, a clear reactivation of the economy in all its areas, he considered.
He highlighted that out of one hundred pesos in the credit portfolio, 22.2 pesos were in dollars last year. He pointed out that before the covid-19 pandemic, the private sector portfolio in dollars reached US$4.81 billion.
He added that later, due to the uncertainty of the pandemic, many companies canceled or paid the loans they had in dollars, for which it went to US$3.966 million as of November 2020.
He stated that the loan portfolio in dollars almost doubled in a year and a half.
On the other hand, the official highlighted that all the important lines, except construction, grew in the credit portfolio in 2022 in pesos and dollars.
The construction sector, he said, had a negative growth of 2.1% last year, because the increase in construction costs discouraged credit to the sector.
The average growth in the credit portfolio in the period 2020-2022 was 36.9% in mining, 17.2% in social services and health, 22.1% in financial activities, 18% in hotels and restaurants, 13.4% in manufacturing, 11.5 % in housing, 9.8% in consumption and 8.3% in commerce.
The sector that grew the most in the last year was mining, with 63.5%, while consumption increased by 21.1%.
