Belize Bank Named One of Best Banks in Central America

Central American economies have flourished in the pandemic’s aftermath due to the region’s lower-than-average inflation, allowing central banks to impose more-accommodative policies than larger economies worldwide.

However, the region received a further boost in 2023 owing to record-breaking remittances and an improving labor market, buoyed mainly by the near-shoring boom, thriving tourism and continued profitability across the commodity spectrum. As a result, Central America’s combined GDP is estimated to have grown 3.5% year-over-year (YoY) in 2023, significantly above the global average of 3.1%, according to the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac).

In the banking sector, continued efforts toward further digitalization—one area in which the region still lags—and commercial loan portfolio growth were the main drivers of profitability among the more prominent players.

In Belize, the winner, Belize Bank, grew its investment and loan portfolio to maintain its position as the country’s largest bank in assets and profitability. It held a commanding 1.9 billion Belizean dollars (approximately $939 million) in assets as of July 2023, according to the Central Bank of Belize.

 

Published by Global Finance