Banks and credit in Bahia's recent development

Abstract

Based on the space distribution of bank branches and indicative of deposits and credits, this paper presents the financial geography of the state of Bahia in 2005. The recent trajectory of Bahian economy is examined to compare the reading of these data, pointing out the role of banks and the increment of credit as fundamental for the regional development. Finally, based in data from Brazil's Central Bank, the relative position of Bahia compared to the main Brazilian banking business centers is presented, the chains of bank branches, the covering of Bahia territory by bank branches, the spatial distribution of the medium size of deposits and credits and the financial hierarchization of the main business centers. In this way this paper tries to establish connections between the regional financial dynamics with thereespatialization of those activities, associated to the nature of the cycles of economic accumulation.