Panama's Credit Market Sees Record Growth

In Panama, personal loans (20,441) and credit cards (17,689) continue to be the most requested, followed by car loans (2,753). According to the document, banking entities have granted 43,946 credits, an increase of 5,914 compared to July 2024, when 38,032 were approved. The study also indicates that finance companies authorized 24,888 new credits, an increase of 3,218 compared to last year. They are followed by credit lines (658), pawn loans (390), and agricultural loans (376). The most requested credits in these entities were personal, commercial, credit cards, revolving lines, and car loans. This scenario, according to economist Alexandra Batista, is due to Panamanians improving their credit history, and in some cases, their solvency is higher, making banks more confident in lending. Credit unions, for their part, approved a total of 5,602 loan applications for personal, pawn, credit cards, credit lines, revolving, and car loans. The least managed are: revolving credit lines, factoring, and authorized overdraft (banks), commercial loans, policies, and leasing (credit unions), and pawn loans, credit lines, and policies (finance companies). It is estimated that around 2,091,480 Panamanians and 304,052 foreigners are part of the national banking and financial system, a number that could increase next year. In fourth place are mortgage credits with 1,375, a decrease of 358 compared to the previous year, which could be due to the completion of the Solidarity Housing Fund and changes to the preferential interest law. Projections The total new financing issued by these entities was 74,436, a figure that the general manager of APC Experian, Giovanna Cardellicchio, expects to increase with the entry into force of the new preferential interest law. The accessibility of Panamanians to new bank loans, despite the country's economic conditions, has remained stable. The latest report from the APC Experian Credit Reference System reveals that, until the month of July, more financing was granted than in the same period of previous years. Figures not seen since 2019, when 40,247 loans were granted, a difference of more than 3,000; subsequently, the figure dropped drastically due to the pandemic to 13,066 and in the following years began to level out. She mentioned that the country's political and social context is also important in the approval of these procedures because, the more stability there is, the greater the confidence in the financial system. 'This could be a sign that the economy is recovering,' she indicated.