PRIVATE LENDERS, BANKS AND MORTGAGE CREDIT IN PERU. EVIDENCE FROM NOTARISED LOANS

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article examines the mortgage credit market of Peru during the guano era and analyses the effects of the creation of mortgage banks on the allocation of credit. It shows that mortgage banks served as interregional intermediaries and facilitated access to long-term credit for large estate owners. However, banks did not broaden access to credit. As private lenders, mortgage banks loaned largely to Lima’s merchants and renters and tohacendadosfrom the main coastal valleys.