According to the BCRA monetary report, loans to the private sector had strong increases, both in local and foreign currency. It also happened within the framework of money laundering.
Loans rose sharply in September, according to BCRA data.
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Driven in part by money laundering, Dollar loans registered strong growth in September and reached a record since June 2020. Local currency loans also saw significant growth, reaching their highest level since July 2023.
According to data from the monetary report of the Central Bank (BCRA), during the ninth month of the year the average daily balance of credits in dollars to the private sector was US$7,239 milliona 7.5% more than the previous month and 87.6% more than a year ago. In year-on-year terms, it represented the most positive variation since 2017.
In absolute values, the monthly increase represented about US$508 million while, compared to September of last year, the increase was US$3,381 million.
Laundering boosted dollar deposits
This occurred within the framework of “Asset Regularization Regime”, or money launderingas it is usually called. According to the BCRA itself, private sector deposits in foreign currency showed a growth of about US$12,226 million in September and reached about US$31,445 milliona figure similar to the maximum in 2019, prior to the collapse they had that year in the context of the exchange rate crisis experienced by the Together for Change government and the elections that led to the presidency of Alberto Fernández.
“It should be noted that the National Government decided extend the deadline until October 31 for the manifestation of adhesion to stage 1 of the regime (initially it had a deadline of September 30). In the same direction, the deadline for accession and mandatory advance payment of the following stages was also extended by one more month. The measure was taken with the purpose of allowing a greater number of interested parties to join the Regime,” the monetary authority highlighted.
“The high degree of interest was reflected in the volumes of deposits in dollars, which towards the end of the month even exceeded US$1,000 million per day. As of September 30, the balance of the Special Asset Regularization Account (CERA) was approximately US$11.9 billion,” they noted.
Loans in pesos also grew
In parallel, loans in pesos also experienced an improvement in September, of 7.8% compared to August of this year and 6.5% compared to September 2023, valued at constant prices. On average, the financing balance in local currency was $38,618,225 million; In real terms, it represented the highest value since 2017.
Source: Ambito
