Fitch: No short-term bank recovery in sight

Fitch Ratings does not see any short-term recovery for the Bolivian banking sector, mainly due to the country's poor economic performance, the agency said in a new report. "An improvement of the system's currently poor financial performance will be contingent on a stabilization of the operating environment in the longer term," senior director Ricardo Chaves said. The most troubled banks in Bolivia are locally owned and it will depend on the parents' strategy how foreign-owned banks proceed under current conditions, Chaves told BNamericas. "If Bolivia is viewed as an integral part of their strategy, there is a greater probability that they might invest into the future, otherwise they may not," he said. In terms of the government's role in today's difficult operating environment for banks, Chaves said "it could try to promote bank consolidation" in a bid to create a more viable banking sector in the long term. To read the full Fitch report on the Bolivian banks, place the following link into your browser: http://www.bnamericas.com/rc_search_detail.xsql?id_documento=46425&Tx_idioma=I