Julio Gutierrez
Newspaper La Jornada
Saturday April 8, 2023, p. fifteen
The call january cost
extended until February for households. In the second month of the year, the balance of the overdue portfolio of loans granted by commercial banks for the consumption of Mexican families totaled 34 thousand 286 million pesos, show figures from the Bank of Mexico (BdeM).
This meant an increase of 32 percent compared to the 25,878 million pesos reported during the same month, but the previous year, and its highest level since March 2021, according to central bank statistics.
Only from November of last year to February of this 2023, the overdue portfolio of these financings has increased 4 thousand 565 million pesos, 15.3 percent, since in the eleventh month of 2022 the balance was 29 thousand 721 million pesos.
If it is considered that the current portfolio of consumer loans totaled one trillion 228 thousand 599 million pesos in February of this year, the overdue balance is equivalent to 2.7 percent.
These financings include credit cards, personal and payroll loans, which have been pointed out as a means of leverage for families at a time when inflationary pressures prevailed.
The disbursement that the banks make month after month in this type of credit and the increases in the non-performing portfolio are cause for concern for analysts of the financial system, at least since December of last year.
“The credit market seems to be reaching its peak. Consumer behavior is maintaining the high growth of the portfolio, reaching irrationality. Delinquency is slowly increasing… We are still concerned about consumer credit,” said Intercam analysts.
The data from the central bank indicate that in the credit card portfolio, which had a valid portfolio in February of 462 thousand 804 million pesos, the overdue balance reached 10 thousand 395 million pesos or the equivalent of 2.2 percent.
If the overdue balance is compared with the 5 thousand 786 million pesos reported during the second month of last year, there is an increase of 79.5 percent and it has been on the rise for five consecutive months.
In the credits that are discounted to the workers through their payroll, which has a current balance of 322 thousand 913 million pesos, the overdue portfolio totaled 9 thousand 340 million pesos, which is equivalent to 2.8 percent of the total.
When comparing the current due amount against the 7,489 million pesos reported in February 2022, there is an increase of 24.7 percent. This is the third highest figure for a month since there are records in the BdeM in 1995, only behind October 2022 (9 thousand 671 million pesos) and January of this year (9 thousand 474 million pesos).
Regarding personal loans, which have a current balance of 194 thousand 106 million pesos, the overdue portfolio totaled 9 thousand 661 million pesos, which is equivalent to 4.9 percent of the total portfolio.
In this sense, the overdue balance, compared to the 7 thousand 650 million reported in February of the previous year, had an increase of 26.2 percent. The increases expressed in this note are in nominal terms, that is, they do not reflect inflation for the period.
