Solid Financial
System
The Guatemalan Financial System occupies the 18th position worldwide due
to its strength, according to the World Economic Forum
G
uatemala has a solid financial
and banking system. In 2016,
the Guatemalan economy grew
by 3.1%, according to the Guatemalan
Central Bank, boosted by a high flow of
remittances and private consumption.
After a decade of merges and
acquisitions among banks and financial
entities, together with the arrival of
foreign firms, regional financial groups
have consolidated their presence in the
financial market.
Seventy-two percent of all account
holders have a strong preference for
savings accounts. It is estimated that
every adult in Guatemala own 1.4 bank
accounts. Additionally, more than 750
thousand people requested a bank loan,
with a total amount that ascends to Q70.3
billion (US$9.35 billion).
The national banking system is represented
by 18 institutions, offering services in
Quetzals, US Dollars and Euros (loans only
given in Quetzals and US Dollars). They
also offer linked services with the main
financial institutions in the world and
offer a wide range of financial services for
international trade, such as credit services,
international transfers, collections and
fiduciary requests, among others.
Banks and financial institutions operate
under
an
unrestricted
exchange
rate system both for depositing or
withdrawing foreign currencies. Banks
only need to comply with money
laundering and terrorism financing
regulations.
The banking entities offer extensive
electronic services, such as an integrated
inter-banking transfer system known as
ACH and strong geographic coverage in
Central America to offer services to their
customers’ operations in the entire region.
Risk-free
The international credit rating agency
Fitch
Ratings
kept
their
credit
perspectives for Guatemala as ‘stable’,
which highlights that their BB rating
for the country was given due to a
combination of better economic growth
expectations and inflation levels within
the target range. This, added to good
financial indicators.
18
+16
banking institutions with 3,558 branches
as well as 6,899 agents and 3,763 ATMs
in the country
million monetary accounts, savings
and deposits in Guatemala
+Q206
million in bank accounts
Source: Guatemalan Banking Superintendence
The rating agency foresees that the fiscal
deficit will be 2.1% of the GDP and total
public debt will be at 25% by 2020, below
the expected levels for the rest of the
countries with the same risk rating.
Although the country’s economic growth
depends on the stability of the advanced
economies, the figures reveal that the
financial system can continue granting
financing support to boost the economy
without becoming a risk for its financial
stability.
GUATEMALABEYONDEXPECTATIONS .com
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