the one of Finance, Jorge Luis Almengorstated that the behavior of the International Banking Center (CBI) of the country, during 2022, is encouraging and shows the dynamism that the economy is having, which translates into greater access to financing for people and the different economic sectors.
The statements of Almengor they were generated during the presentation of the results corresponding to the closing of December 2022 of the CBI, organized by the Superintendence of Banks of Panama (SBP), an institution that this 2023 celebrates 25 years of existence.
He highlighted: “Not only is there an important recovery in the aspects of modified credits that were produced by the pandemicbut also new loans are very close to reaching pre-pandemic levels and bank profits have also increased.
For his part, the bank superintendent, Amauri A. Castilloduring the presentation, explained that the CBI recovered its usual behavior in 2022, in terms of assets, volumes of financial intermediation and profitability.
The foregoing is supported by the figures of the assets that reached around of $140,000 million, of which $83,341 million correspond to loans. For its part, the credit portfolio reflects a growth of $8,886 million, which corresponds to 12%.
The most relevant disbursements on the balance sheet are local loans, with 68% of all credit operations. While foreign loans grew an average of 24.7% in recent months, highlighting corporate financing in countries such as Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Brazil.
As for the new credit disbursementsgrew positively by more than 30%, reaching a total balance of $23,134 million, that is, an additional $6,294 million, compared to the previous year, when they totaled $16,840 million; however, they still do not reach the levels registered in 2019.
Similarly, the indices of CBI profitability they were positive, as there was a growth in profits above pre-pandemic levels, of around 45%, supported by the efficient management of assets and liabilities.
“For us it is important that the banking industry and the financial system are strengthened as they are, because it translates into greater liquidity for the different economic sectors and guarantees the execution of their projects,” underlined Vice Minister Almengor.
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