The private sector deposits in foreign currency reached in October the highest level recorded since the exit of Convertibilitywhen located in USD 35,105 milliona product of pre-electoral dollarization.
The data comes from the latest Monthly Monetary Report published by the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA). The document details that during that month there was a increase of USD 1.16 billion in these deposited funds
“Private sector deposits increased by USD 1,160 million, ending the month at USD 35,105 million. In this way, reached the highest level since the exit of convertibility“, highlights the report from the monetary authority.
At the same time, the document highlights that this movement coincided with a context of dissimilar behavior in other indicators of the financial system in foreign currency: loans to the private sector in dollars, which had shown increases during the previous 17 months, registered a decrease of USD 640 millionclosing October in USD 18,252 million.
During the tenth month of the year, the Central Bank concluded an exchange stabilization agreement, better known as swapwith the US Treasury Department USAfor up to USD 20 billion. On the eve of the October 26 elections, the United States Treasury made purchases of pesos that, according to the report of the BCRAcontributed to reducing exchange rate uncertainty and allowed the wholesale exchange rate to close that month within the floating band, in $1,443 per dollar.
Although the exact amount of North American operations in the local exchange market was not reported, market sources estimated that they would be around USD 2.1 billion. These interventions took pressure off the Central’s international reserves in a context of exchange instability.
At the end of October, the holdings of the entity led by Santiago Bausili remained in USD 39,382 millionwith a drop of USD 992 million compared to September. The official report attributes the fall mainly to dollar sales carried out by the National Treasury in a month marked by financial volatility. “In the opposite direction, the increase in current account deposits in foreign currency of financial entities in the BCRA operated,” adds the monetary report.
On the other hand, in October loans in pesos to the private sector reversed the negative trend of September and reflected a real increase, adjusted for seasonality, of the 1.1%. This variation involved a secondary expansion of $3.26 billion. The report indicates that “this increase was concentrated in short-term commercial credit, fundamentally current account advances and collateralized loans, which have been showing sustained growth since mid-2024.”
On a year-on-year basis, total credit showed an increase of 44.8% at constant prices and, measured as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), reached 9.2%a figure that exceeds 0.1 percentage points the September record and doubles the level observed at the beginning of 2024. When including credits in dollars, the resulting ratio climbed to 12.1% of GDP.
The report specifies that, after two consecutive months of declines, commercial loans registered a real monthly increase in 1.3%. The recovery was driven by short-term lines, with advances showing “a monthly increase of 8.1%,” and discounted documents rising 2.9%. On the other hand, single-signature documents continued to decline, with a decrease in 3.1% real.
The BCRA indicated that loans with collateral maintained an uninterrupted positive trend during the last seventeen months. In October, monthly growth was 4.5% at constant pricesled mainly by mortgage loans, which experienced a growth of 8.3% compared to the previous month. The report clarifies that loans for the purchase of homes accumulate an increase in 285.8% year-on-yeardriven by UVA adjustable mortgage loans.
On the other hand, collateral loans showed a real increase of 1.1% monthly and they were located 69.9% above the level recorded a year earlier. Regarding consumer loans, the report describes insignificant movements: personal loans fell 0.9% realalthough in the last twelve months they recorded an increase in 80.4%. Credit card financing grew 0.8% real in the month and accumulated an interannual increase of 33.9%. Considered together, these lines remained stable during the month, without relevant changes at constant prices.
