Description

As from issue number 50, the Series of Economic Studies of the Central Bank of Chile will be called Studies in Economic Statistics.

Credit to the non-financial sector is relevant for the financial stability of a country. This paper presents the evolution of the indebtedness of non-banking firms in Chile based on micro data from different sources between 2009 and 2016. This database allows us to differentiate firms by sources of financing, size and economic sector. The main results are: i) firms that do not report to the SVS and only use local financing concentrate the bulk of the local bank credit, ii) among the remaining firms, debt growth is mainly explained by external funding sources and iii) between 2012 and 2015, most of debt growth has occurred in those firms that start with high amounts of debt, as a result of the issuance of external bonds and obligations associated with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).