Panama’s International Banking Sees Impressive $5.9B Asset Surge in 2023

According to the Banking Activity Report [Informe de Actividad Bancaria (IAB)] from the Superintendence of Banks of Panama (SBP) as of November 2023, the assets of the International Banking Center [Centro Bancario Internacional (CBI) ] reached US$146,141 million, reflecting an increase of US$5,926 million compared to November 2022, representing a year-on-year growth of 4.2%.

According to the SBP, this increase is primarily the result of the performance of the total loan portfolio, which reached US$87,486 million, representing a year-on-year growth of 4.5% or an additional US$3,787 million.

Furthermore, this growth dynamic is largely based on the stock of credit mass granted in previous periods, as the performance of new loans has significantly decelerated, shifting from a growth of around 38% in 2022 to a cumulative growth of 5%.

The report also indicates that this demonstrates that by the end of the year, the levels of 2019 have not yet been reached. In 2019, there was a cumulative disbursement of US$24,880 million, whereas for the period from January to November 2023, it stands at US$20,548 million.

Meanwhile, the deposits of the CBI totaled US$104,203 million, representing an increase of 5.2% compared to the same period in 2022 when it reached US$99,016 million, i.e., an increase of US$5,187 million, largely due to the performance of external deposits that grew by 9.0%, according to the BAR results.

On the other hand, the National Banking System [Sistema Bancario Nacional (SBN)] recorded growth in the local loan portfolio with a year-on-year increase of 3.4%, reaching a balance of US$60,945 million, reflecting a growth of 3.4% or US$1,987 million more compared to the same period the previous year.

The good performance is reflected in most of the portfolios that make up this type of financing, especially highlighting the corporate and household components. The credit granted to households by commercial banks stands out as the most dynamic segment in absolute terms, thus driving the growth of the total portfolio.

Indeed, the portfolio of personal consumer loans experienced an increase of 4.2%, totaling US$13,631 million, while the mortgage credit showed a growth of 3.8%, totaling US$20,483 million, both measured on a year-on-year basis.