Loan portfolios have also strengthened to new levels this year, but the ratio of non-performing loans to total loans is still high at around 9%, according to new data from the region’s banking associations. Peru, for one, has made real progress. Bad debts in the Peruvian banking system fell to a 23-year low in 2005 to October to 2.59%, down from 11% in 1998. Spain’s Lima-based Banco BBVA Continental has made...
