Chile's Bachelet says credit squeeze may hit firms

SANTIAGO, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Chilean President Michelle Bachelet is warning that the country's companies could find access to credit reduced due to the U.S. financial crisis.

Chile's government has said the country is well-positioned to withstand global financial turmoil because of its low public debt and investment grade status.

However, Bachelet said in an interview late on Friday that firms could find it harder to secure financing.

"Obviously the chances of getting credit, investment, are probably going to be less than we would have liked for private companies and with higher interest rates, which is clearly less favorable," Bachelet said on state television TVN.

The La Tercera newspaper reported that Chilean banks have started tightening lending policies in response to a reduction in the amount of dollar credit being given by U.S. banks.

"External financing has got more difficult, not because of the Chilean banking sector or Chile itself, but because foreign banks are in a real panic about lending as a result of the international crisis," Hernan Somerville, president of the country's banking union, told the newspaper.

It said exporters would be most affected by banks reducing the repayment periods on dollar-denominated loans. Local banks have also tightened lending risk criteria and are seeking credit from European and Asian banks, the newspaper said.

Chile is the world's top copper producer and the metal is a pillar of the economy -- one of the region's most robust. (Reporting by Antonio de la Jara; Writing by Helen Popper, editing by Alan Elsner)