According to bankers, the drop in loans has more to do with credit tightening by the banks rather than demand. According to these numbers in La Prensa, even though over loans are down only 3% certain sectors are down by between 20-30%.
La Prensa
Banks issued $1.4 billion in new loans in January, a decrease of 3 percent or $40 million over the same period in 2008.
There was also a decrease in bank deposits, which fell $74 million compared to December. Loans to farmers experienced the largest decrease, falling by about 50 percent. There was also a 26.5 percent decrease in loans to livestock producers.
Industrial loans and construction loans were also down by 31.3 percent and 21.3 percent respectively, while personal loans fell by 10.6 percent.
The general manager of Banco de Bogotá, Fabio Riaño, said that the drop is due to “the prudent behavior of banks.”
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