2023-07-07 03:39:17
Mexico City. The high interest rates in the country, caused by the increase in the reference rate of the Bank of Mexico (BdeM) – an instrument that sets the cost at which people and companies are financed – have begun to curb the demand for bank loans by the population, said Felipe García Ascencio, general director of Santander México.
He explained that, after a first semester in which credit dynamism surprised positively, high interest rates have taken their toll on the pace at which financing is placed, coupled with global uncertainty due to fears of economic slowdown.
“If we begin to see a little less in the flow of credit and sectors or segments where things begin to tighten a little, then we do think that there will be a slowdown in the second half of the year, but 2023 has been good, the Employment is still high, consumption levels are still good, but I don’t think this second half is going to be as dynamic as the first one,” said the bank manager.
“Naturally (the slowdown in credit) it is as a result of the rise in rates that people begin to take care of themselves a little more, a good part of the savings has been used, in the pandemic we had more, we went out less, we consumed less, it has been used part of this savings and now with these rates the level of consumption is adjusted”, emphasized Ascencio.
Specifically, he explained, the segment where the financial institution sees a lower demand for loans is in the consumer sector, which includes credit cards, personal loans, payroll loans, and automotive loans, among others.
“In consumption we see lower demand, the number of deposits is also growing less, so the economy slows down a bit,” said García Ascencio.
After a press conference by the bank’s microfinance company, the manager pointed out that at the same time that the demand for loans begins to slow down, there is an increase in the levels of non-payment, although it is not something that at the moment causes them major concerns.
“Default is increasing, but it is very gradual, very low, it is not a concern, yes there is a change in trend, it had been going down when we thought it was going to rise, and now we see that the default rate is picking up, but nothing serious “, he pointed.
According to the latest figures from the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV), at the end of April, the balance of Santander’s current consumer loan portfolio totaled 159,911 million pesos, an increase of 23.4 percent, in nominal terms. , with respect to what was reported the same month of the previous year.
The delinquency rate in these loans reached a level of 2.81 percent (the equivalent of some four thousand 493 million pesos), which meant an increase of 0.18 percentage points with respect to what was reported in April 2022, when the delinquency rate default was placed at 2.63 percent.
However, García Ascencio said that the dynamism of the Mexican economy, in general, was good during the first half of the year and “although it is true that it has slowed down, it is not at the level of what we thought, so the growth forecasts have been upward”.
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