Business leader Celso Marranzini argued for some quick government action on the norms that govern the loan portfolios of bank clients. Marranzini wants the Monetary Board and the Superintendent of Banks to loosen up the requirements for getting loans in order to allow access to lower cost financing. He maintained that some flexibility would not imply a “relaxation of the norms”, but rather allow the different businesses to obtain the capital that was lost during the banking crisis of 2003.<\/p>\n
Both business and industry have complained that both “A” and “B” clients, those with the lowest risk factors and the lowest interest rates, have complained that they cannot afford to take out loans at current interest rates.<\/p>\n
Marranzini said that he understood that the rigidity of the banking norms is part of the IMF agreement, “but the IMF has to understand that the economic crisis did not only affect the government and the banks, but also the industrial and commercial sectors as well, as these lost a part of their capital and need access to credit in order to recover.” Marranzini considers lower interest rates to be the motor the recovery of the construction industry, perhaps the heart of a reactivated economy.<\/p>\n
Superintendent of Banks Rafael Camilo said that the slow down of the economy and not the new norms on banking are the reason why business borrowing is down. As reported in El Nacional newspaper, he said that borrowing moves to supply and demand and right now people are not starting new businesses to demand credits.<\/p>\n
He explained that while in the past loans were granted based on a company’s payment track record, the new rules require the decision to be based on the financial statements.<\/p>\n
The new regulations require that the same statement presented to the tax department be the ones that the banks use to qualify the company for a loan, or else fall into a high-risk category.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Business leader Celso Marranzini argued for some quick government action on the norms that govern the loan portfolios of bank clients. Marranzini wants the Monetary Board and the Superintendent of Banks to loosen up the requirements for getting loans in order to allow access to lower cost financing. He maintained that some flexibility would not … <\/p>\n