The fall in credit from financial intermediaries to the private sector in 2020 was for an amount of -9,854 million pesos. In the flow of financing there were differences in behavior with consumer and commercial credit falling and mortgage growing.
Economic data indicates that during the pandemic, households on average consumed less and saved more. At the level of use of credit cards, it can be seen that there was a change in people’s behavior. The percentage of cards with a utilization level greater than 80% decreased by five percentage points and that of those with a utilization level of less than 20% increased by seven percentage points.
There was a significant drop in car sales at the beginning of the health crisis. The market gradually recovered. Its recovery has been slowed by causes external to the market related to supply chains. The lower purchase of cars is what explains the lower demand for auto loans.
People who kept their jobs also lowered their consumption and saved more. This implies that their demand for this type of credit was lower. Payroll credit had a more favorable behavior with a smaller fall of only -1.5% than personal loans with a fall of -18%. Market fundamentals are what explain this difference.
At the beginning of the pandemic there was a lower demand for mortgage credit due to uncertainty. 95% of workers in the formal sector kept their jobs and months later they thought they would not lose it. For this reason, they later resumed their plans to acquire a home, boosting demand. The increase in the portfolio of 110,000 million pesos in the second half of 2020 stands out.
The amount of business credit increased 12.9% during the first quarter of 2020. This is explained by the uncertainty caused by the pandemic. The companies used their lines of credit to generate a liquidity reserve that was precautionary.