SANTO DOMINGO.-The total assets of the Dominican financial system amounted to RD$3.5 trillion as of March 2024, for a year-on-year growth of RD$518,075 million, equivalent to 17.1%, according to the Quarterly Report on the performance of the financial system, published by the Superintendency of Banks (SB).
At the close of the first quarter, the banking sector's assets were comprised of 56.7% gross loan portfolio, 25.7% gross investments, 14.8% available funds and 2.7% other assets, so there have been no significant changes in their distribution.
Similarly, the gross loan portfolio of the financial system exceeds the two trillion mark for the first time (RD$2.015 trillion), representing a year-on-year growth of 20.8% (RD$347,236 million).
According to the report, business loans have the largest share of the loan portfolio balance, representing 54.6% as of March 2024, while consumer loans (excluding credit cards) and mortgage loans represented 23.0% and 17.6%, respectively.
Since August 2021, credit card lending has continued to increase. In the first quarter of this year, the year-on-year change was 32.1%.
The weighted average interest rates (TIPP) for active and passive lending by multiple banks closed in March 2024 at 14.9% and 9.0%, for year-on-year reductions of -0.5 and -1.2 percentage points, respectively.
The private portfolio risk index stood at 3.3%. This has been declining since November 2021, when it was at 4.9%. The non-performing loan ratio saw a slight increase compared to the previous quarter (0.1 percentage points), rising from 1.2% to 1.3% at the end of March 2024.4
According to the SB publication, the level of liquidity in the system is adequate. The system's available funds totaled RD$526,947 million, representing a decrease of RD$9,533 million (-1.8%) compared to March 2023.
Liabilities and inflows
The total liabilities of the financial system amounted to RD$3.1 trillion, with a year-on-year variation of 17.4%, mainly due to the increase in public deposits.
Deposits and securities held by the public continue to be the main source of funding for financial institutions (84.1% of liabilities), showing a year-on-year growth rate of 13.9%. As of the end of March 2024, these totaled RD$2.7 trillion (39.2% of GDP), with a year-on-year increase of RD$324,757 million, partly explained by the RD$327,130 million increase in public deposits.
89.2% of total deposits in the system are concentrated in multiple banks, amounting to RD$2.4 trillion. Savings and loan associations hold deposits of RD$238.27 billion, equivalent to 9.0%. Deposits held by savings and loan banks and credit corporations totaled RD$38.86 billion and RD$2.39 billion, respectively. Bandex held RD$7.756 billion.
Households are the primary source of deposits for the financial system, accumulating RD$1.4 trillion as of December 2023, equivalent to 52.4% of the total. Similarly, companies in the real sector (private corporations) were the second largest source of deposits, with RD$585.876 billion, representing 22.7% of the total. Microenterprises accounted for RD$164.662 billion, or 6.2%.
