4 banks absent from Motor Show

The banks that have opted out of the show are HSBC and its affiliate Banistmo, Banesco and Cuscatlán Bank with its

These four lenders have not given any reasons why they are not participating.

The Executive Director of the Automobile Distributors Panamanian Association, Julio Olaya said that although they are not coming to the show, the event has received the support of 10 different financial institutions and the absence of those four banks will not affect the fair.

Without giving any details about why they are not participating in the Panama Motor Show, the four banks confirmed to La Estrella that they will not take part in the event that will take place from October 10 to 19.

Sources close to the financial sector said that the decision of not participating was taken due to the high level of debt that exists in the car loan market.

According to statistics of the Panama Banks Superintendency in 2007 the car loans were in the region of $516 million and in the first eight months of 2008 that figure went up to a grand total of $578 million.

The official figures indicate that the level of borrowing in 2008 has been a lot higher than in the previous years.

The vice-president of Ricardo Perez S.A., Javier Díaz said that the absence of four banks will not affect the event. “There will be other financial institutions that will satisfy the consumers needs.

Talking about how the financial crisis in the United States has affected the sale of cars in the local market, Diaz explained that the impact produced by the automobile Latin American business in the U.S. recession has been limited so far.

The sale of vehicles has been decreasing month by month in Panama.

In the first four months of 2008 the local distributors sold 14,991 vehicles, but from April to August sales fell to 11,085 cars.

Banks around the world are concerned about the consumers overextending their borrowing capacity