The country’s largest bank by assets, Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz, saw pre-tax profits slump 60% year-on-year in 2020.
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Latest articles from Bolivia
Will new president bring positive change for Bolivia’s banks?
December 2, 2019Bolivia’s political upheaval means changes ahead for the country’s banking sector, which will be hoping for a review of its high taxes.
Bolivian banks contemplate effects of financial service law
July 1, 2016Bolivia’s varied and largely healthy banking system faces challenges from new legislation that sets lending rates and deposit floors. While bigger banks see opportunities in social housing loans, the rate curbs could have implications for microfinance lenders, and consequently for poorer citizens. Jane Monahan reports.
Bolivia’s economy minister pledges to industrialise economy
July 1, 2016Luis Alberto Arce, Bolivia’s economy minister, tells Jane Monahan how the country's government is attempting to diversify its economy away from its dependence on raw materials.
Top 200 Latin American banks ranking 2015: Argentina and Brazil press on in hard times
November 2, 2015The Banker’s Top 200 Latin American banks ranking for 2014 sees Brazilian institutions stay on top, while Argentina maintains its status as most profitable, despite mounting challenges.
Bolivian finance minister looks to cash in on strong economy
April 23, 2012Bolivia is about to tap the international capital markets for the first time in a century, a move which its finance minister says reflects its impressive economic performance of the past few years.
Bolivia's economy minister reaps the rewards of prudence
June 1, 2011Bolivia's economy minister, Luis Arce explains that the careful management of the country's finances over the past few years have left it in a strong position to not only cope with such demands, but to continue to grow.
The power behind Bolivia's new energy
December 8, 2010Bolivia is barely recognisable from the state it was in 20 years ago - it now has a budget surplus and a store of foreign currency, and there are even plans to make the country an export hub for electric power and natural gas. Hugh O'Shaughnessy met Bolivia's vice-president Álvaro García Linera to discuss the country's prospects.
Luis Arce
May 28, 2010Luis Arce, Bolivia's finance minister
Since president Evo Morales took office in Bolivia in 2006, political stability has gone hand-in-hand with a period of robust economic growth. The country's finance minister shares with The Banker how Bolivia has managed to protect itself from the worst of the global economic crisis and spells out plans for future expansion. Writer Jane Monahan
Winners and Losers in LATAM
June 4, 2009Some of the multilateral development banks in the Latin Americas region are proving stellar sources of funding at this time of crisis, although others are lagging behind with depleted reserves. Writer Jane Monahan
