BRASILIA: Brazil’s loan market registered transactions totaling $1.1 trillion last year, up 11.3 percent from 2013 and the slowest growth rate since 2007, the Central Bank said Tuesday.
Lending was expected to grow 12 percent in 2014, compared to the previous year, monetary officials said.
Loan volumes expanded by 2 percent in December, compared to November.
Lending transactions were the equivalent of 58.9 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) last year, off from the 56 percent level in 2013.
Loans to individuals and corporations rose 13 percent and 9.8 percent, respectively, during the year, leading to the rise in lending in 2014, the Central Bank said.
Arrears, meanwhile, reached 4.8 percent at the end of 2014, while the spread, the difference between interest rates paid on deposits and rates charged on loans, was 20.4 percentage points. EFE
