WALLET of microcredits, contrary to the behavior of the other segments, continues with positive growth, this due to the fact that families continue to request this type of financing for their small businesses or entrepreneurship.
Despite the fact that this segment is one of those that charges the highest interest rates, added to high inflation. In May it reached its highest real growth with 1.4%.
According to the president of Asobancaria, Jonathan Malagón, said that “microcredit was the modality with the highest real growth, with 2.2%, followed by commercial credit with 1.1%. The consumer and housing portfolios presented real decreases of 1.2% and 0.6%, respectively. On the other hand, with the most recent data, the portfolio quality indicator reached 4.2%, standing at the same levels as before the pandemic. Consumption, with 6.7%, and microcredit, with 6.1%, are the modalities with the highest quality indicator, while in the commercial portfolio the indicator stands at 3.2% and in housing it is by 2.5%”.
Deceleration
Despite the forecast of a slowdown in the demand for credit, in the midst of inflation, high interest rates and lower economic growth, the microcredit segment still continues to show increases at the end of the first quarter. This was shown by the most recent Asomicrofinanzas report, which revealed that the gross portfolio of this sector reached $19.64 billion.
According to the union’s figures, at the end of the first quarter, 2.89 million microentrepreneurs had been served, of which more than half are women. The amount disbursed as of March was $3.51 trillion, thanks to 544,310 operations.
During the first three months of the year, in addition, these microcredits were placed in 1,003 municipalities of the country. Of these, where there were higher disbursements were in Ipiales, Palmira, Pitalito, Bello and Barrancabermeja.
On the other hand, the Financial Superintendence, the indicator of portfolio quality due to arrears, which measures the ratio of overdue portfolio to gross portfolio, remains around 4.3%. The quality of the portfolio has deteriorated for the third consecutive month, pressured by the growth of non-performing loans, which has occurred at a faster rate than that of the gross portfolio. However, adequate payment habits and the relatively lower incidence of penalties have prevented a deeper drop in quality.
Briefcase
Of the total written off for March 2023, 81% corresponded to the consumer portfolio and 14% to the commercial one. The dynamics of write-offs in the consumer segment is related to its portfolio quality, this being the modality that reports the highest indicator (6.7%), which means that it is the one that presents the greatest deterioration. The quality of the consumer loan portfolio has deteriorated almost constantly since March 2022, reflecting the joint effect of uncertainty, slowdown and inflation on consumer default.
On the other hand, the delay in the delivery of subsidies was one of the determining factors for the contraction of the housing segment. In May, the Ministry of Housing gave the news of the authorization of new quotas in the interest rate coverage for housing within the framework of the Mi Casa Ya program. The interest rate coverage for beneficiaries joins the initiative of some banks to lower the rate of their mortgage loans for the purchase of Social Interest Housing (VIS) and Priority Interest Housing (VIP).
Likewise, the commercial portfolio continues on its path of deceleration, but maintains positive annual real growth (1.3% as of March 2023). In the real annual variation, the dynamism of foreign currency products (19.2%), financial (9.7%), official (8.0%) and factoring as a short-term financing mechanism (6, 4%). The business segments (-14.5%) and SMEs (-10.7%) went into negative territory, which implies bad news for an important part of the Colombian business fabric.