Chavez pushes Venezuela's banks into poor barrios

Angel Caballero's experience in business administration may have helped get him a job with Venezuela's Banesco bank, but it was his knowledge of Caracas' poor barrios that the bank was really after. The former steel industry worker manages $1.5 million of loans spread over 250 clients in some of the most impoverished areas of Caracas' west side, helping Banesco tap into one of Venezuela's fastest-growing lending markets. 'At first people were a little wary,' said Caballero, who was raised in the Caracas barrio of Magallanes de Catia. 'But once the loan is approved, people feel they are being taken into account and they are very responsible about paying.' Faced with galloping inflation and heavy regulation by the government of leftist President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's banks are expanding their portfolios of small loans to low-income clients as they search for new business.