State-run bank Bancafe should not be converted into a federal bank specializing in small-and medium- sized enterprise (SME) financing, local press reported Nancy Barry, president of Banco Mundial de la Mujer.
Barry's statement comes in response to Colombian president Alvaro Uribe's announcement early this month to merge state-run banks Bancafe and Granahorrar into a single institution focused on SMEs.
According to Barry, Uribe's efforts to boost SME and micro financing are positive measures, but sees state-run banks as inefficient and potentially dangerous to poorer clients.
The executive added that Colombia's financial system already attends to the SME segment better than most countries in Latin America, offering low commissions as a result of high efficiency, something a state-bank may not be equipped to do.
