According to the Banking Activity Report as of November 2021, new loans granted by the National Banking System (NBS) stood at USD 15.96 billion, which represents an increase of 17% versus the same period of 2020, when it reached USD 13.60 billion, i.e. USD 2.37 billion more.
Portfolio recovery is directly related to the successful inoculation strategy, which shows a significant improvement in the positivity percentage, which in turn has a positive impact on the loan movement.
It should be noted that financial intermediation has been distinguished by two phenomena: a growing stability of the banking system’s funding sources, given a strong source of customer demand and savings deposits, and a loan portfolio that has begun to show positive signs in the middle of a normalization process for most credit activities. The foregoing shows that the Panamanian financial system maintains a solid and resilient position, with capital and liquidity levels higher than the regulatory minimums.
As of November 2021, the system’s liquidity ratio reached 56.7%, which is almost double than the legally required of 30%, while the latest capital adequacy ratio on risk-weighted assets stood at 16.14%, almost double the regulatory minimum of 8%. This performance lays on sound regulatory parameters that have been adapted since the onset of the pandemic.
On the other hand, the net loan portfolio of the National Banking System improved, recording a USD 1.88 billion (2.82%) increase, totalizing USD 68.37 billion. Foreign loans grew by 11.7%, while the domestic portfolio had a performance of 0.54%.
The Banking Activity Report shows that the International Banking Center assets totaled USD 132.83 billion, a USD 2.38 billion increase versus November 2020, that is a year-on-year growth of 1.82%.
For further information on the report, please visit our website www.superbancos.gob.pa / Financial & Statistical node.
