Commercial Banks Slough Dollars
- Details
- Category: Business
- Published on Friday, November 11 2011 01:05
- Written by Rod Hughes
- Hits: 494
The Central Bank announced this week that commercial banks in this country have experienced reduction in dollar reserves. Reserves in the Central Bank, in contrast, have tended to increase.
Those reserves in country reached more than a record billion dollars in June, 2010, but have been reduced to only $11.5 million in September. All banking reserves, including the Central Bank, was $4.475 billion in September.
Marco Garro, economic advisor to the Chamber of Banks and Financial Institutions, offered the possible explanation that local banks have asked for more credit from banks abroad.
According the Central Bank figures, dollar credit, which had lost ground to lending in colones between April, 2009, to September, 2010, has begun to rise again. In September, 2010, dollar loans were only 43.9% to the total, while last October, they represented 45.7%.
Banco de Costa Rica manager Mario Rivera told the newspaper La Nacion that he considered that the lowered dollar reserves was due to an increase in savings of colones since interest rates are a bit better in colones than in dollars at present.
