Venezuelan State is the country's major banker

By 2009, the presence of the Venezuelan government in the financial market was hardly visible, but it would soon become the country's major banker.

That very same year, the government purchased Banco de Venezuela and in 2010 it merged four taken over banks (BaNorte, Bolívar, Central and Confederado) and state-run Banfoandes into the Bicentenario bank.

In this way, the government took the lead in the financial sector as it already owned other financial institutions, namely Banco Industrial, Banco Agrícola, and Banco del Tesoro.

By the end of July 2012, all together, public banks held 34.5% of deposits, 24.5% of credits, and 35.8% of assets, while Banesco, the largest private financial institution in the country, currently holds 13% of deposits, 16.3 % of credits, and 12.5 % of assets.   

Translated by Jhean Cabrera