Itaú sees lower Brazil spreads hinging on improving risk perception
SAO PAULO, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Lower lending rates in Brazil will depend more on whether delinquency risks among borrowers decrease than any other reason, a senior executive at Itaú Unibanco Holding SA said on Monday, underscoring reluctance to grow disbursements until Latin America's No. 1 economy sheds stronger recovery signs.
While Itaú has enough capital and liquidity to kickstart lending any time, the diverging behavior of consumer and corporate loan books makes it harder to assess if the recession has already hit rock bottom, Marcelo Kopel, Itaú's head of investor relations, said at a conference call to discuss third-quarter results.
(Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Aluísio Alves)