...A deceleration of fiscal spending since 2007, recently exacerbated by the significant drop in oil prices from their peak as a consequence of the world crisis; a variety of measures to reduce liquidity in the local economy to curb inflation pressures; and banks' constraints in regards to minimum regulatory capital ratios have resulted in a decline of gross loan in real terms in 2008. During March 2008, the Central bank modified such trend on its monetary policy and announced a reduction on interest rates, while a decrease on the cash reserve requirement is not out of the table. Despite government control over interest rates, the sizable share of consumer loans and the overall larger loan portfolio have been able to compensate for the more than proportional increase in funding costs, hence improving the net-interest-margin (NIM) ratio although it is still lower than historical levels. However, the expected more modest growth of the loan portfolio, recent interest rates measures and pressures...
