Countries & Regions

Paraguay's economic expansion was only interrupted only in 2009, when GDP fell by 3.8%, however, it later resumed the upward trend seen during the previous six years, with a growth projected of 14.5% by the close of 2010. The decrease in economic activity experienced by foreign countries reduced Paraguay’s export levels by 20% in 2009. Similarly, investment and consumption levels experienced a decline of 23.8% of GDP; this was especially true in homes linked to the agricultural sector where purchasing capacities were reduced. Anti-cyclical policies enacted just in time by economic authorities helped to ensure that the Paraguayan financial system was not severely affected by the global crisis, which enabled the banking system to experience a 29.7% increase in deposits (USD 6.34 billion) and a 20.4% growth in private sector credit (USD 4.165 billion) during 2009.

As of 2010, the nation's financial system is comprised of 15 banks, 12 finance companies and 447 cooperatives (including savings-and-loan cooperatives, production cooperatives, and others), while the assets held by Paraguay's microfinance sector (including various non-governmental organizations) represented 13.5% of total commercial banking assets.

This system has two supervisory authorities: the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) through the Superintendent of Banks (for finance companies and banks) and the National Institute of Cooperative Ventures (INCOOP). Development-oriented foundations and non-governmental organizations are not supervised.

There are also some existing networks made up of financial institutions that participate in, promote and assist the microfinance system, such as:

Other actors in the financial sector are the credit bureaus, which can be private or created through trade-union initiatives, such as the CONPACOOP credit bureau. However, the document Microscopio 2010 indicates that the credit bureaus in Paraguay still lack the appropriate level of detail as well as consolidated information, hampering their ability to facilitate the development of microfinance.