Banco Crédito Agrícola de Cartago, or Bancrédito, saw 10 billion Costa Rican colones of fund withdrawals in the weekend after the announcement to cease financial intermediation activities, El Financiero reported.
On May 26, government authorities announced that financially burdened Bancrédito would abandon its commercial operations and financial intermediation activities before the end of 2017, as is preparing to transform it into a development bank.
Total withdrawals experienced the during the 2-day period after the news hit 7.8 billion colones and $2.6 million, general manager Gerardo Porras Sanabria told the publication.
The sums represent 8.8% of the bank's total deposits in colones and 5% of those in dollars, Porras said. "We had 38 billion colones prepared. What was effectively withdrawn [was] much less," he reportedly said.
The executive added that the bank put in place a liquidity management committee, which followed a protocol to open agencies in unusual times and made sure they had enough cash to handle the situation.
Government authorities maintain that Bancrédito continues to operate normally as they continue to seek options for the bank, including a bailout plan that was signed in February, when it was identified as being at risk of falling into financial irregularity.
As of May 29, US$1 was equivalent to 580.65 Costa Rican colones.