Growth due to increase in loan portfolio
August 23, 2016: Panama’s positive performance, including 7.2% increase in loan portfolio, comes amidst continued reforms to strengthen financial transparency framework
The Panamanian Government announced that assets of the National Banking System reached over $99.6 billion, with a 4.6% increase over the same period in 2015. The increase comes as President Varela’s administration continues to implement reforms to strengthen the country’s financial system and to increase transparency in the services sector.
Raul Moreira, director of Economic and Social Analysis of the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Panama, highlighted that the growth is due to the increase in the loan portfolio that increased 7.2% during this period, while the securities market grew 6.3%.
Moreira also pointed out that in Panama, banking equity totalled $10.5 billion, with an increase of 8.9% from last year, and that capital grew 13.6% during the first semester, due to the strengthening of the Panamanian banking sector. Deposits totalled almost $73.4 billion at the end of June, showing a 5.3% increase from the last period.