The banks that make up the International Banking Center (IBC) have demonstrated their commitment to ensuring the well-being of savers, by maintaining sound capital levels, with a capital adequacy ratio on risk-weighted assets of 16.43%, as of August, which represents an improvement to the ratio recorded in August 2020 when it reached to 15.98%.
This outcome exceeds the regulatory minimum of 8% required by the Banking Law, which means that presently all operating banks satisfactorily comply with the new regulatory standards on banking capital (Basel III), according to figures of the latest Banking Activity Report.
As for the balance sheet, IBC assets totaled USD 130.80 billion, a decrease of USD 1.54 billion or 1.2% versus August 2020.
Regarding domestic loans, it registered a total of USD 54.48 billion, a USD 41 million or 0.1% increase when compared to August 2020. Although this performance is beginning to show portfolio recovery signs, it does not show the performance it had before the outbreak of the pandemic.
It should be mentioned that the sectors most vulnerable of the domestic loan portfolio, because of the pandemic, were construction decreasing USD 541 million or 9%; commerce, USD 581 million or 5.2%; and industry, USD 48 million or 1.8% versus August 2020.
Regarding bank financing sources, IBC deposits registered a total of USD 96.54 billion, a USD 5.14 billion or 5.6% increase, thanks to the performance of domestic deposits that rose 7.2% or USD 4.22 billion, where the main components were customer and government deposits.
It should be highlighted that IBC capital levels and deposits performance show the confidence domestic and foreign depositors have on the National Banking System stability.
For further information on these variables and the results of this report, please visit our website www.superbancos.gob.pa/Financial & Statistical.
