Chile’s banks, insurers maintain steady footing

Chilean banks and insurers absorbed the fallout from the violence and unrest of 4Q19 and now face a bumpy 2020, according to a BNamericas Intelligence Series report.

Overall loan growth is forecast to decelerate amid an expected slowdown in economic activity, which may also dampen demand for insurance products – but not all. 

“Chile’s banking and insurance sectors were last put to a major test in 2010, when an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country and wreaked economic havoc,” the report, Stormy Waters: Banks and Insurers Weather Chile’s Crisis, states. “Banks and insurers emerged in healthy financial shape and the question now is if last year’s protests and violence will continue in 2020 – and how well prepared the banking and insurance sectors are to cope with another year of social unrest and depressed economic activity.”

A central question being asked in Chile is how the economy will perform this year, amid heightened uncertainty stemming from the unrest and from coronavirus, which is dampening demand for some of the country’s exports as well as consumption. 

Read the full report here