Bank financing for productive credit continues to be an obstacle for the country’s cooperatives that only have the financial support of the same associations, according to industry leaders.
“In Argentina, financing by banks is almost nil, it is the financial cooperatives and mutuals that provide credit to producers” both for the activity and for “personal aspects”; pointed out the Chief of Staff of the National Institute of Associativism and Social Economy (Inaes), Jonathan Thea.
He added that due to the lack of financial alternatives, Inaes offers specific financing lines for the popular economy because “it is such a diverse sector in its areas”, for which “articulation with other State agencies” is necessary.
This allows “state agencies to visualize and understand the format of these associations so that cooperatives and mutuals are considered in their different lines of strengthening,” he emphasized in dialogue with Télam.
An example of this is the line of work with the Secretary of Industry and Productive Development that incorporates machinery and technology in recovered companies, which are usually the “hardest hit”.
“These companies have a great emptying not only of employment but also of obsolete resources, this type of specific financing allows them to return to producing with quality standards, inserting themselves into the value chains of their activity,” he explained.
He pointed out that from the Inaes they constantly work with the Foreign Ministry and with the investment and international trade agency to promote the export of recovered companies and cooperatives.
For his part, Ariel Guarco, president of ICA and Cooperar, explained that although the cooperative system has its own capacity to finance itself and to finance different actors in society, “for more than 40 years we have been governed by a law on financial entities that forces us to keep our expressions to a minimum”.
This regulation prevents the development of financial instruments such as cooperative credit banks, which promote the development and productive financing of this sector.
“In Argentina we have a cooperative bank that is based on our values and principles, but is still conditioned by the law on financial entities,” he added, referring to Banco Credicoop.
Therefore, from the cooperative movement they demand the need for not only a regulatory framework that incorporates this item into the traditional financial system, but also a regulation that promotes universal access for associations and national savings, with an orientation towards development. sustainable.
Source: Ambito
