The issue of guarantees for bank loans has recently hit the headlines again, albeit unofficially, following the case of a public bank manager who was taken to court for approving an election campaign loan without a guarantee. However, if the CMF is to be believed, this seems to be common practice among state-owned banks. Unless there is discrimination between public and private companies!
15 billion in guarantees and 35 billion in loans
The value of loans to customers of the three main public banks listed on the Tunis stock exchange, STB, BNA and BH Bank, is estimated at 35.378 billion dinars at the end of 2022, while the value of guarantees received does not exceed 14.960 billion dinars, a guarantee rate of 42.3%, according to the balance sheets of the Financial Market Council (CMF).
The same statistics showed that the lowest guarantee rate was for STB (28.5%), as the total value of guarantees received did not exceed 3.099 billion dinars, while the value of loans to customers was estimated at 10.860 billion dinars.
For BH Bank, the value of guarantees received reached 3.366 billion dinars as of December 31, 2022, while the value of loans to customers increased to 10.687 billion dinars, corresponding to a guarantee rate of 31.5%.
In contrast, BNA saw this rate rise to 61.4% at the end of last year (2022), against a value of loans to customers of 13.831 billion dinars, with guarantees received of around 8.496 billion dinars.
It is estimated that the guarantee rate will be 251.5% in 2020.
received does not exceed 14.960 billion dinars, a guarantee rate of 42.3%, according to the balance sheets of the Financial Market Council (CMF).
The same statistics showed that the lowest guarantee rate was for STB (28.5%), insofar as the overall value of guarantees received did not exceed 3.099 billion dinars, while the value of loans to customers was estimated at 10.860 billion dinars.
For BH Bank, the value of guarantees received, as at December 31, 2022, reached 3.366 billion dinars, while loans granted to customers rose to 10.687 billion dinars, representing a guarantee rate of 31.5%.
By contrast, BNA saw this rate rise to 61.4% at the end of last year (2022), against a value of loans to customers of 13.831 billion dinars, with guarantees received of around 8.496 billion dinars.
ITES says guarantee rate was 251.5% in 2020
It should be noted that the banking law does not specify the rate of credit guarantees, despite the fact that, according to a study published by the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies (ITES), under the Presidency of the Republic, the issue of access to bank finance in relation to guarantees is one of the obstacles to the development of the business climate in Tunisia. According to the same report, SMEs suffer most from the need to obtain guarantees from banks in order to access credit.
ITES pointed out that, according to official data provided by local banks, the rate of guarantees obtained by banks in relation to loans granted to SMEs rose from 169.2% in 2013 to 251.5% in 2020.
According to the study published last June, the problem of bank guarantees is a major factor in the decline of business activity, especially among SMEs in Tunisia, correlated with two other factors: the lack of bank liquidity, estimated by ITES at 9,573 billion dinars by the end of 2022, and the staggering increase in bank interest rates on loans.
As a reminder, the share of the three public banks in loans granted to customers at the national level was 42.6% in December 2022, while their share in deposits was estimated at 34.6% at the same date.
What remains to be said, and what neither the CMF nor the ITES do, is to point out that these public banks mainly lend to public companies, which are not favored by private banks.
And we would have liked to know how much exposure the public banks have to the State, which sells them BTAs, and especially to public companies, which are veritable financial time bombs!
