SANTO DOMINGO.- Credit from multiple banks to the construction sector reached RD$70.29 billion in December 2021, representing a 20% increase compared to the portfolio recorded at the end of the previous year, reported the Association of Multiple Banks of the Dominican Republic (ABA).
The association highlighted that construction companies benefited from an expansion of credit in 2021 amounting to RD$11.641 billion. It noted that the growth rate in this sector was higher than that of the total loan portfolio of multiple banks, which increased by 11% during the same period.
The ABA pointed out that this amount does not include the RD$167,415 million of the mortgage financing portfolio, which is intended for the acquisition and remodeling of homes, registered at the end of 2021.
The entity highlighted that a driving factor in the growth of construction financing was the significant drop in the weighted average active interest rate, which registered a reduction of 179 basis points between March 2020 and December 2021, which was favorable for the development of said sector.
In that regard, he detailed that the average weighted active rate of multiple banks to the construction sector was 7.7%, while that granted to the general credit portfolio averaged 11.4%, according to statistics from the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic and the Superintendency of Banks.
In a press release, the ABA stated that this behavior reflects the dynamism that the sector has regained in its post-pandemic recovery, strengthened by the monetary stimuli provided by the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic and the traditional support of multiple banks.
Gender data
In a panel recently held by the Dominican Association of Housing Builders and Promoters (ACOPROVI), Rosanna Ruiz, president of the Association of Multiple Banks of the Dominican Republic (ABA), shared some of the indicators related to the composition of the mortgage portfolio and the construction sector.
In that regard, she revealed that the mortgage portfolio (for home purchases and renovations) for women exceeds RD$73 billion, representing approximately 44% of the total value of said portfolio. Between 2016 and 2021, this portfolio experienced cumulative growth of 71%, equivalent to RD$30 billion, she explained.
In this regard, Ruiz noted that female financial users have been steadily increasing their participation in the outstanding balance of the mortgage loan portfolio compared to men.
