Domestic credit to private sector by banks (% of GDP) - Country Ranking - Central America & the Caribbean

Definition: Domestic credit to private sector by banks refers to financial resources provided to the private sector by other depository corporations (deposit taking corporations except central banks), such as through loans, purchases of nonequity securities, and trade credits and other accounts receivable, that establish a claim for repayment. For some countries these claims include credit to public enterprises.

Source: International Monetary Fund, International Financial Statistics and data files, and World Bank and OECD GDP estimates.

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Panama 95.65 2020
2 Barbados 79.54 2019
3 St. Lucia 72.89 2020
4 Belize 68.73 2020
5 Honduras 67.13 2020
6 The Bahamas 60.74 2020
7 Costa Rica 59.71 2020
8 Grenada 59.47 2020
9 El Salvador 58.32 2020
10 Jamaica 56.20 2020
11 St. Kitts and Nevis 55.43 2020
12 Antigua and Barbuda 55.39 2020
13 Dominica 53.24 2020
14 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 50.88 2020
15 Trinidad and Tobago 44.87 2020
16 Guatemala 35.27 2020
17 Dominican Republic 28.97 2020
18 Nicaragua 27.91 2020
19 Haiti 8.21 2020

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Development Relevance: Private sector development and investment - tapping private sector initiative and investment for socially useful purposes - are critical for poverty reduction. In parallel with public sector efforts, private investment, especially in competitive markets, has tremendous potential to contribute to growth. Private markets are the engine of productivity growth, creating productive jobs and higher incomes. And with government playing a complementary role of regulation, funding, and service provision, private initiative and investment can help provide the basic services and conditions that empower poor people - by improving health, education, and infrastructure.

Limitations and Exceptions: Credit to the private sector may sometimes include credit to state-owned or partially state-owned enterprises.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Credit is an important link in money transmission; it finances production, consumption, and capital formation, which in turn affect economic activity. The data on domestic credit provided to the private sector by banks are taken from the other depository corporations survey (line 22D) of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) International Financial Statistics. The other depository corporations include all deposit taking corporations (deposit money banks) except monetary authorities (the central bank).

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual