By Estêvão Kopschitz X. Bastos and Rodrigo Mendes Pereira
There has been a gradual improvement of credit conditions in the economy, but with significant discrepancies between non-earmarked and earmarked credit, between individuals or corporations and between state-owned or private banks.
The largest expansions are taking place with non-earmarked resources, credit to households and coming from private institutions. Non-performing loans (NPLs) rates with non-earmarked loans have reached historically low levels, both for households and firms. The ratio of interest and amortization payments to household budgets has been relatively stable in the last months. Non-mortgage indebtedness for households has grown moderately, whereas mortgages remain mostly stable, around the mean level of the last three years. Interest rates and average spreads remained stable in September, after an eighteen-month period of decline.