Mexico's private commercial banks have re-started lending to the country's small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), local financial daily El Economista reported, quoting enterprise coordination council (CCE) chairman Hector Rangel.
SME lending rose in April and has maintained this trend during May and June at a rate of some 2% annually in real terms, said Rangel, who is the former president of Mexico's banking association ABM.
"Although this growth is still modest, the important thing is that the (negative) trend has been broken," he told a seminar organized by the economy ministry.
Rangel also noted that the federal government has made SME lending a top priority and almost a third (1.6bn pesos or US$162mn) of the economy ministry's budget is destined to programs associated with SMEs.
