Mexico bank lending rises 13 pct in 2nd quarter

MEXICO CITY, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Mexican bank lending grew 13 percent in the second quarter over the year-ago period while non-performing loans jumped 17 percent, Mexico's banking and securities commission said on Tuesday.

Total bank credit stood at 1.799 trillion pesos ($173 billion) at the end of June, and deposits were at 2.10 billion pesos ($202 billion), up 11 percent, the commission reported.

Lending in Mexico dried up in the mid-1990s after a financial crisis devastated the country's banking industry.

Since then, international finance houses such as Citigroup and BBVA (BBVA.MC) have bought up most of Mexico's largest banks, and in recent years have started lending again.

Growth in consumer lending peaked at an annual rate of nearly 50 percent in 2005 and 2006. Since then, expansion has trended lower and banks are offering plastic to increasingly inexperienced and risky clients.

Compared with March, total bank credit in Mexico was up 2 percent at the end of June.

The banks' past-due index was 2.45 percent at the end of the quarter.

Lending to small and medium-sized businesses is expected to be one of the fastest-growing niches this year. ($1 = 10.3812 pesos) (Reporting by Noel Randewich)