Colombian banks registered gains of 3.1 trillion pesos in July, reported El Espectador today.
The Financial Superintendency report showed that the accumulated earnings of Colombian financial institutions reached about 5 trillion pesos ($USD2.43 billion). This is equivalent to an increase of 1.3 trillion pesos ($USD629 hundred million) of the profit recorded over the same month last year, an augmentation of 35 per cent.
The report states that the spike in earnings can be accounted for due to improving conditions in financial markets. This has permitted an increase inthe value of investment portfolios of the various financial intermediaries. This also applies to credit institutions, which are currently facing a slowdown in the credit market.
The Financial Superintendency explains that the appreciation of investment portfolios was also observed in administered funds, whose accumulated earnings to July 2009 reached 16.6 trillion pesos ($USD8 billion)
Broken down by fund type, the results were concentrated in mandatory pension funds, which earned approximately 10.3 trillion pesos, 10 trillion pesos ($USD5 billion) greater than the reported amount in July 2008.
The report also highlights the utility of passive pension funds and collective portfolios managed by trusts.
According to the watchdog, interest rates continued their downward trend, as reported by Portafolio.com.
“Interest rates continuing their downward trend is due to the Central Bank’s reduction of the benchmark rate since December 2008 and, cosequently, the lowest interest rates for consumption and existing ordinaries for the third trimester of this year (27.98 per cent).”
A key figure for financial institutions relates to their solvency, which in July stood at 15.1 per cent, compared with 14.4 per cent in July 2008.
