The director of Financial Studies of the Superintendency of Banks of Panama, Javier Motta, said this Wednesday that the economic reactivation of the country is on the right track, even that the recovery of the banking system reflects positive numbers.
“If we see the performance of the new portfolio, including the portfolio by balance, it grows at 1%, a situation that has not occurred for months, it was always negative, the portfolio or disbursement or new flow, if we see it month by month it is of almost 40% and if we see it accumulated, it is around 20%. If we make a proportion, we believe that it is positive, even the income statement was normally decreasing, they are already seen as a product of those flows or interests generated by the portfolio that are increasing ”, he specified.
He considered that, if the modified portfolio continues to be reduced, the level of reserves, provisions or the level of equity that the entities have means that there is still a very strong level of solidity indicators.
He explained that in the pandemic there were many banks that had monthly and quarterly losses, so it is normal, “we believe that there will be losses, but they are not accumulated losses that compromise the solvency and equity of the bank.”
“According to the stress tests that we have seen, it is that if these reserves are increased to maintain the stability of the system, even so, the banks would all meet the capital adequacy ratio above 8%. That level of reserve will depend on the level of collateral or the realization of the guarantees that are had, ”said Motta.
He said that banks continue to monitor the level of risk and the increase that these loans could have.
A couple of weeks ago, it was known that at the end of September 2021, the deposits of the international banking center increased by 2.9% compared to the same period in 2020, to total $ 96,710.9 million.
Since last year, even in a pandemic, the deposits in the square are growing and mark historically high levels in September.
At the time, the Superintendency of Banks of Panama indicated that the greatest increase in deposits occurs in legal entities, with an increase of $ 2,422 million compared to September 2020, while in natural persons they also grow, but to a lesser extent ( $ 915 million increase).
