Credits to people will expand between 8% and 10% this year, compared to 2018, due to the national economy's dynamism, Scotiabank's Department of Economic Studies projected on Wednesday.
"After an increase of more than 10% in credits to people in 2018, we expect the credit behavior of households to remain dynamic throughout this year, within a range of 8%-10%, underpinned by
the economic growth of around 4%, the income level, and the increase in formal jobs," it explained.
Its weekly report stated the credit activity's rate of growth slowed down slightly by the end of 2018, due to the credit performance of companies. However, credits to people continue to improve with high levels of growth.
The banking credit activity posted an annual growth of 8.8% by December 2018, decelerating slightly from 9.5% in the second quarter of 2018 —the highest level since November 2015— although it is of a temporary nature.
January 2019
In January this year, the credit activity expanded 8.0%, up from 5.9% in January 2018. The level of
credit dollarization stood at 31.5% in January 2019, down from 31.9% at the end of last year.
Dollar-denominated debts have been significantly reduced over the past years, going from 25% at the end of 2013 to 10.8% in January 2019, as part of credit de-dollarization measures promoted by the
Central Reserve Bank of Peru (BCR).
In the case of companies, the dollarization ratio stood at 43.0%, down from 57% at the end of 2013.
The increase in credits to people, including consumer credits and mortgage credits, reached a two-digit figure in 2018 (+10.6%).
They continued to grow at an annual rate of 10.9% until January 2019 —compared to the same month last year (+6.9%)— driven by the preference for Peruvian Sol-denominated credits (+13.4%).
(END) MDV/MDV/RMB/MVB
Publicado: 20/3/2019