Ecuador’s banks and financial institutions, excluding government-owned lenders, decreased lending 2.6 percent in February to $1.42 billion from the previous month, the central bank said today.

Credit increased 5.7 percent from February 2011, the bank said today in a report on its website. The average interest rate for corporate loans rose to 8.33 percent from 8.24 percent a month earlier, while the average rate for consumer credit was little changed at 15.9 percent, the report said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nathan Gill in Quito at ngill4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at Papadopoulos@bloomberg.net