Panama Banks

Olegario Barrelier stated recently in the press that Panama Banks have excessive liquidity and are well prepared to take the repercussions of the presently brewing international credit crisis.
While speaking to Reuters, Mr. Barrelier also stated that the liquidity level of Panama Banks is around 58% of deposits with their international exposure under manageable limits.
"At the moment our banks are good, very good. They are healthy, they are liquid, and capital is nearly double what is required. They are being financed by local deposits and are not dependent on external financial markets," he said.
Panama is a well known center for offshore banking (largest in Latin America) and houses more than 90 international banks Long a center for offshore banking. The biggest bankers in Panama are the international giants like the CitiGroup, HSBC and the BBVA. Panama’s banking system does depend on central banking and thus the banks re always encouraged to keep a high liquidity since they cannot resort to or fall back upon last minute lending.
According to Mr. Barrelier, the global financial crisis currently brewing will affect Panama eventually but the damage will be limited to a slower economy and will not do any damage to the existing financial system.
Panama Banks have already been asked to tighten their lending since January 2008 to bring down the inflation that was hovering around 10%. With the economy poised to grow by 9.5% in the current fiscal, the effects of the crisis will be negligible compared to other Latin American countries.