Pro-government deputy: Banks should be subject to public policies

The Committee on Finance, National Assembly, will start monitoring the agriculture loans portfolio, pursuant to the provisions of the Law on Banking Financial Institutions, said Ricardo Sanguino, the president of the committee.

The deputy added that this text "provides that the banking activity is a public service and should be subject to public policies and grant funds to different sectors."

In 2011, bank loans to the agricultural sector amounted to VEB 51.7 billion (USD 12 billion), 49% higher than in 2010, according to data from the Superintendence of Banks. However, last Sunday Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said that the financial institutions were not providing credits to small and medium-sized farmers. Chávez warned the bankers that if they failed to meet the agriculture loans portfolio, the private financial institutions would be nationalized.

marmas@eluniversal.com