ABA president offered details to the International Monetary Fund mission about the reality of the banking sector, the resilience shown in the face of the economy´s difficulties arising from the pandemic, as well as the sector´s main challenges and plans.
Santo Domingo.- At the close of the third quarter of 2021, the multiple banks operating in the country are still strong in regards to their levels of liquidity, provisions and solvency, as a result of good asset and wealth management over the years and particularly during the pandemic.
This is what the president of the Association of Multiple Banks of the Dominican Republic, Rosanna Ruiz, said when receiving a mission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), headed by Esteban Vesperoni,at the association´s headquarters.
At the meeting, Ruiz highlighted the decisive role of banking as a channeler of the liquidity facilities provided by the monetary and financial authorities, as a result of the effects of the pandemic on the economy.
“Our bank has good levels of solvency, profitability, provisions and liquidity, even registering regional leadership in relation to these performance indicators,” he said.
ABA President Offered Details on Multiple Banks’ Assets
Assets were valued at RD$2 trillion 306 billion as of September 2021, showing an increase of 10.6% compared to December 2020.
She also pointed out that, in terms of participation, the sector represents 87.9% of the total assets of regulated financial intermediation entities.
Likewise, the association explained that the gross loan portfolio during the first nine months of the year reached RD$1 trillion 153.2 billion, meaning a growth of RD$78.8 billion (7.3%).
During the meeting, Ruiz also mentioned the excellent performance recorded in other indicators such as the overdue loan portfolio, which experienced a reduction of 16.9%, going from RD$20,254.4 million in December 2020 to RD$16,832.4 million as of September 2021, for a RD$3,422 million decrease in absolute terms.
She also highlighted that the coverage ratio of provisions on overdue portfolio is 337%, i.e., for each peso of overdue portfolio there were RD$3.37 pesos of provisions, as of September of the current year.
The meeting was also attended by Frank Fuentes (in person) and IMF executives Dirk Jan Grolleman and Mario Mansilla (virtually). There on behalf of ABA were Manuel González, Technical Director; Junil Fermín, Legal Director; Pamela Castillo, Director of Communications; Julio Lozano, director of Economic Studies, and Jorge Rodríguez, director of Technology and Projects.
During the meeting, the actions, plans and challenges of multiple banking for digital transformation and the impact of this on payment and financial services were addressed.
The attendees also spoke about the banking sector´s challenges and future plans, in order to stay in tune with best practices, promote quality and respond to the demand for financial services in today’s society, according to the ABA.
Source:
El Caribe
