Business Loan Applications Decrease in Last Quarter, Superfinanciera Report Shows

In the last quarter, the level of business loan applications has recorded a decrease compared to the same period of the previous year. This indicator is calculated through the average monthly growth of the volume of commercial credit applications over three months..

According to the Superfinanciera, between September 2022 and February 2023, a total of 302,045 applications were registeredand in the period corresponding to September 2023 and February 2024, this figure was reduced to 260,029, which translated into a decrease of 3.71%.

In contrast, Commercial mode approval rate has remained above 92% with amounts exceeding $53 billion per month during the study period.

Until February 2024, the demand for business credit had a special presence in the Andean region, especially in Bogotá and Antioquia, with shares of 57.19% and 20.62%, respectively.

The demand for credit, according to the main economic activities that represented 71.07% of the amounts requested in February 2024 under the commercial methodit is seen that the average production remains constant over time.

Financial and insurance activities, as well as wholesale and retail trade, account for the majority of demand for commercial business creditreaching its highest shares in March and January 2023 (47.12% and 36.40%, respectively).

The risk profile, other factors, and cash flow of the debtor have a significant impact on commercial credit approvals in the country. Until February 2024, these rejection reasons represented shares of 47.01%, 29.68%, and 22.49%, respectively. It is important to point out that none of these reasons have exceeded 4% of participation in the total amount requested for commercial credits, that means, on average, the amounts approved represent 96% of the total amount requested.

Some departments, which collected on the last cut-off date agreed amounts on average for a total of $34 billionshowing an adoption rate of 96.62%, higher than the country’s economic activity average of 0.59%.

Financial activities, insurance and manufacturing industries have displayed the levels and amounts allowed higher compared to the other economic sectors studied.