Between January 1 and December 20, 2024, that is, in the first 51 weeks of the year, banks in Colombia disbursed loans for a total of $627.44 billion, a figure that represented a growth of 9.07% in nominal terms compared to the same period in 2023, according to statistics compiled by the Financial Superintendence of Colombia.
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According to the Superfinanciera portal, the total number of disbursements reached 515.74 million and presented a growth of 9.16% compared to the first 51 weeks of 2023.
For its part, regarding the weighted average placement rate, The credits were granted at 18.04% effective annual rate. This rate represents a decrease of 6.16 percentage points compared to the weighted average rate of all loans disbursed in the first 51 weeks of 2023.
It must be remembered that during 2024, the Current Bank Interest (IBC) fell 6.73 percentage points from 23.32% to 16.59% according to the figures certified by the Financial Superintendence.
Loans given to people
Detailing the provisional figures of the Superfinanciera by segments, it can be mentioned that The amount disbursed for individuals amounted to $206.33 billion, which represented an increase of 8.61% nominal compared to the first 51 weeks of 2023 when the figure amounted to $189.96 billion. while the number of disbursements for said section was 487.8 million, which represented an increase of 9.58% when the amount was 445.15 million disbursements, data that includes the use of credit cards and quotas rotating among others.
For its part, the annual effective weighted average rate was 19.68% annual effective rate and showed a drop of 6.04 percentage points compared to 25.72% annual effective rate in the first 51 months of 2023.
It must be remembered that during 2024 The Monetary Policy Rate of the Bank of the Republic fell 3.5 percentage points from 13% to 9.50%.
The Colombian central bank managed to raise the rate to 13.25% to counteract the effects of high inflation and during 2024 it undertook several reductions that ended on December 20 with a drop of 25 basis points, or 9.75%. to 9.50%, although the general consensus of the markets, analysts and academics considered that the drop could be around 50 basis points.
Credits to companies
On the other hand, according to the figures presented by the Superfinanciera, the amount of loans disbursed to companies in the first 51 weeks of 2023 reached $421.11 billion and registered a nominal growth of 9.29% in a total of 27 .89 million disbursements, a figure that showed an increase of 2.29%.
For its part, the annual effective weighted average rate for loans to companies was 17.23% effective annual rate and fell 8.49 percentage points.
Finally, it must be remembered that during 2024 the usury rate fell 10 percentage points from 34.98% to 24.89%, the latter the lowest in 13 years.
Thus, according to the most recent certification, issued by the Superfinanciera, in January 2025 the usury rate that will govern the country will be 24.89% effective annually.
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Holman Rodríguez Martínez
Portfolio Journalist
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