For Moody’s, the expansion of the Panamanian economy forecast for the next few years would allow bank credit to grow 8% in 2019 and 9% in 2020.

According to estimates by analysts of the rating agency Moody´s Investors Service is that for the 2019-2014 five-year period is that the Panamanian economy will achieve growth between 5% and 5.5%, behavior that will favor the dynamism of the banking sector.

See “IMF: Panama will Grow 6% in 2019”

José Montaño, vice president and senior analyst of Financial Institutions Group Moody´s, explained to Elcapitalfinanciero.com that “… the expectation of higher growth of the Panamanian economy will contribute to expand bank credit by 8% in 2019 and 9% in 2020. Banking is well positioned in terms of capital, profitability, asset quality and overall to continue growing.”

Ana Lorena Carrizo, head of risk analysis of Equilibrium, associated to Moody´s, stated that for the Panamanian banking sector the “… main challenges are…: Control levels of delinquency, increase deposit taking, improve profitability levels, maintain a robust capital adequacy and adequate liquidity indices and adjust to new regulatory standards.”

You may be interested in “Panama: Bank Credit Keeps Rising”

Regarding the current performance of bank credit, the latest reports of the Superintendence of Banks of Panama specify that up to March 2019 the credit portfolio of banks in the national system totaled $54,857 million, 5% more than in the same month of 2018, and the rise was again explained by mortgage and personal loans.