Peru Raises Dollar Loan Rate Cap Past 100%
From 1 November, lenders in Peru may charge up to 103.14% a year on dollar loans to consumers and small firms, after the central bank raised its usury ceiling. The post Peru Raises Dollar Loan Rate Cap Past 100% appeared first on The Rio Times .
Peru’s central bank raised its dollar loan rate cap on consumer and small-business loans to 103.14% a year, Gestión and Infobae reported Wednesday. It is the first time the legal ceiling on loans in US dollars has gone above 100%.
US investors have a stake, because Peru’s banks lend in dollars as well as soles and lender Credicorp trades on the New York Stock Exchange. It also lands after President Keiko Fujimori’s government sought to scrap the five-year-old usury law, which banks say shuts borrowers out.
The Central Reserve Bank of Peru, known as the BCRP, sets interest rates and, since 2021, the legal maximum rates for some loans. Its new dollar loan rate cap allows up to 103.14% a year, up from 99.84%, Infobae reported.
For loans in soles, the ceiling edges up from 114.13% to 114.68% a year, Gestión and Infobae reported. The caps cover consumer loans and loans to micro and small businesses.
The power comes from Law 31143, a 2021 law against usury that changed the central bank’s charter. The bank updates the caps every six months using a formula set out in its Circular 0008-2021-BCRP, Infobae reported.
The new ceilings run from 1 November 2026 to 30 April 2027. The next update is due on 1 May 2027, based on average consumer loan rates from October 2026 to March 2027.
The Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and Pension Funds, Peru’s financial regulator, checks that lenders respect the caps. It can sanction any bank or lender that charges more than the legal maximum.
Peru’s banking association, Asbanc, which speaks for the country’s commercial banks, argues that the caps have not made credit cheaper. “Excluding a person from formal credit does not remove their need for financing,” it said in remarks quoted by Gestión, Lima’s business daily.
José Goyburu, a partner at the law firm Cuatrecasas, said in Gestión that the limits keep thousands of people away from credit and should go. He said the higher ceilings only slightly widen the room to lend to riskier clients.
Goyburu also said the average number of new consumer borrowers each month fell about 11%, from roughly 46,000 in 2015 to 2019 to about 41,000. Asbanc says people shut out of banks turn to informal credit, including “gota a gota” (drop by drop) moneylenders who collect daily repayments.
The government of President Keiko Fujimori asked Congress in August for special powers that included repealing the rate caps , Gestión reported. Opposition lawmakers objected, arguing that repeal would let lenders charge even higher interest.
The Chamber of Deputies, the lower house, later approved 90 days of decree powers for security and the El Niño weather threat, without the repeal. The bill now sits with the Senate, which is also weighing tougher tools against gangs .
A dollar loan rate cap is a ceiling, not a price, and lenders may charge less, Infobae noted. At the full cap, a US$100 loan held for a year could cost up to US$103.14 in interest before other fees.
Foreigners living in Peru who take a consumer loan or run a small business should compare the yearly cost before signing. Investors in Peruvian banks will watch whether the caps survive, since scrapping them would let lenders price riskier loans freely.
It is not known whether the government will try again to repeal the caps through a separate bill. Nor is it clear how many lenders will use the higher dollar loan rate cap in November.
It is also unclear how many borrowers now pay rates close to the current limits. Whether the higher ceilings will speed up lending to small firms remains open.
From 1 November 2026 to 30 April 2027, the dollar loan rate cap is 103.14% a year for consumer and small-business loans. The previous ceiling was 99.84%.
The Central Reserve Bank of Peru sets them every six months under Law 31143, the 2021 usury law. The banking regulator checks that lenders comply and can sanction those that charge more.
No, it covers only consumer loans and loans to micro and small businesses. Lenders may charge less, because the cap is a ceiling rather than a target.
Sources: Gestión, ‘Bancos podrán cobrar tasas de más de 100% en créditos en dólares: ¿afectarán a deudores?’ , 14 October 2026; Infobae Perú, ‘Créditos en dólares podrán costar más del doble desde noviembre’ , 14 October 2026; Gestión, ‘Gobierno de Keiko Fujimori insiste en derogar tope a tasas de interés en pedido de facultades’ , 28 August 2026; Credicorp, corporate website , 15 October 2026.
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