Lending-Deposit Spread

The lending-deposit spread is the difference between the average lending rate banks charge on loans and the average deposit rate they pay on customer deposits. It is a widely used gauge of bank intermediation costs, financial-sector efficiency and competition, and it helps explain the cost of credit across an economy. This Latin Macro Watch indicator, published by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on data.iadb.org, brings comparable interest-rate spread series together for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Coverage

The indicator covers 26 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean at annual, monthly and quarterly frequency over the period 1990–2026. Values are expressed in percent. The spread is largely derived from internal IDB calculations based on national central-bank lending and deposit rates rather than published directly by the source agencies.

Sources

Figures are based on data from national central banks and statistical agencies, including the Central Bank of The Bahamas, the Banco Central do Brasil, the Banco de Mexico, the Banco Central de Chile and the Banco de la República de Colombia, among others. IDB compiles and harmonizes these national lending and deposit rates so that the spread is comparable across countries.

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Format	CSV
Language	en
Country	Argentina Bahamas Trinidad & Tobago Belize Costa Rica Dominican Republic Ecuador Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia El Salvador Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Panama Uruguay Venezuela Barbados Paraguay Peru Suriname
Data notes	What does the Lending-Deposit Spread measure? It measures the difference between the average lending rate banks charge on loans and the average deposit rate they pay on deposits, a common gauge of bank intermediation costs and financial-sector efficiency. How many countries and which frequencies and period are covered? The indicator covers 26 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean at annual, monthly and quarterly frequency, spanning 1990–2026. What units are available and how is the spread calculated? Values are expressed in percent. The spread is largely derived from internal IDB calculations based on national central-bank lending and deposit rates, rather than published directly by the source agencies. Where does the data come from? It is based on data from national central banks and statistical agencies, including the Central Bank of The Bahamas, the Banco Central do Brasil, the Banco de Mexico, the Banco Central de Chile and the Banco de la República de Colombia, compiled and harmonized by the IDB. What is this indicator typically used for? It is used to assess bank intermediation costs, financial-sector efficiency and competition, and to compare the cost of credit across Latin American and Caribbean economies over time. How do I cite this indicator? Cite it as: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Latin Macro Watch — "Lending-Deposit Spread". data.iadb.org/dataset/latin-macro-watch-dataset.