Highlights the resilience and recovery of the Peruvian financial system in 2022

Lima, January 1. Peru’s financial system showed resilience and continued to recover during 2022, despite the impact of the pandemic, the internal crisis and the external environment, according to the Banking and Insurance Supervisory Authority and Agence France-Presse (SBS).

The supervisory body explained to the official Andina agency that the recovery of the Peruvian financial system was manifested in the sustained growth of the credit portfolio, which recorded an advance of 6.4% in October 2022 compared to the same month of the previous year.

According to the information, the total balance of appropriations last October amounted to 421.548 million soles (about 108 thousand million dollars), of which 25.521 million soles (6543 million dollars) corresponded to the government program portfolio.

Deposits in the financial system also grew by 2.5% in October compared to the same month in 2021 and amounted to 423.495 million sol ($108.588 million).

SBS added that the financial system has the liquidity to expand credit with its own resources as long as there are credit subjects with an appropriate risk profile.

According to the data provided by Andina, in the indicated period, consumer loans increased by 25% and mortgage loans by 9.3%, although business loans to non-retailers recorded a decrease of 1.4%, already corporate loans grew by 4.2% and small businesses by 10%, after the sharp decline it suffered in 2021.

“The medium-sized company’s lower growth is largely due to the deterioration this portfolio has recorded in the past year,” SBS said.

The agency also indicated that the default in 2022 remained “at a fairly controlled level”, reaching 4.30% in October, and rescheduled loans in previous years continued to decline, reaching 7.04% of direct loans, with an explanation of about 50% within the scope of government programs.

“The minimum regulatory ratios are 8% in the national currency and 20% in the foreign currency,” Abel added, adding that “profitability has shown a recovery compared to the years of the epidemic.”

Signs of coherence and resistance

In addition, the SBS “Solvency Stress” exercise update revealed that the Peruvian financial system continues to show signs of safety and resilience in the face of adverse national and international macroeconomic shocks.

The results indicated that in the face of shocks resulting from the slowdown in private investment due to social conflicts, especially in the mining sector, and the exacerbation of political uncertainty, the global capital ratio of the financial system would continue at a “much higher” level to the lower limit of capital. Present.

This conclusion was preserved even if external shocks associated with the decline in demand from the country’s main trading partners, caused by the economic slowdown in China, and the sharper increase in prices by the US Federal Reserve were added, as noted by the device.

SBS for this year 2023 expects portfolio growth similar to that recorded in 2022, if the latest Central Reserve Bank (BCRP) forecast on the performance of the Peruvian economy, which estimates an annual expansion of gross domestic product (GDP) at 3%, is considered.

It also predicted a “moderate deterioration” in the overall portfolio quality of the financial system in terms of probability of default by 2023, with a larger impact on the consumer and small business sectors. EFE

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