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SearchThe BCRA, CNV, and Ministry of Deregulation are working on proposals to expand loans repaid through payroll deductions, open up the trading of card receivables, and make guarantees easier for businesses. For now, not all initiatives have been defined or are in force.
The Argentine Government is considering changes to expand access to credit for families, businesses, and companies, and to reduce some of the costs associated with financing. The initiatives are being developed by the Central Bank (BCRA), the National Securities Commission (CNV), and the Ministry of Deregulation and State Transformation. According to information released by the BCRA, they aim to promote competition among providers, improve borrowers’ credit quality, and reduce transaction costs.
The proposals cover three areas: personal loans repaid through payroll deductions, advances to businesses on sales made with cards, and guarantees to facilitate business financing. Although lines of work and objectives have been announced, not all the mechanisms and conditions have been defined; some changes may require legislative amendments.
One initiative aims to expand the use of the so-called payroll deduction code, which allows loan installments to be collected directly from a borrower’s wages. The Government is considering making it easier for more institutions to participate in this type of financing, which until now has been associated, among other actors, with mutual associations and cooperatives.
Direct deductions could reduce the lender’s risk of nonpayment. The Government’s expectation is that greater competition to offer these loans will help expand supply and improve terms. However, the eligibility requirements, authorized institutions, and the scheme’s scope for different groups of workers have not been fully specified.
Coverage has also described separate lines of work for public- and private-sector employees. For the latter, the possibility of centralizing the affected cash flows through COELSA has been mentioned, with the aim of ensuring that the mechanism does not add administrative tasks for employers. These details relate to proposals under development and do not, on their own, mean that the scheme is operational for all workers.
The second area aims to expand trading in receivables generated by credit card sales. When a business sells goods in installments, it can wait for the payments to come due or advance the funds through financial mechanisms, which carry a cost.
The proposal is to allow more participants to trade these collection rights, rather than limiting such transactions to the options available to each acquiring company’s clients. If the market opens up and the number of providers increases, the goal is for businesses to obtain liquidity at lower cost. This reduction is an expectation, not a guaranteed outcome.
For small and medium-sized enterprises and businesses, receiving sales proceeds earlier could help cover working capital needs, such as paying suppliers or restocking merchandise. But the effect will depend on the final rules, who is allowed to participate, and the financing terms that emerge.
The third area focuses on making it easier for companies to secure their loans. Options under consideration include expanding the assets and rights that can be used as collateral and improving how they are registered and searched. Tools such as pledges, warrants, and promissory notes are mentioned, as are productive assets such as machinery and equipment.
A federal guarantee system and changes to expand financing channeled through Reciprocal Guarantee Companies (SGRs) are also being considered. A centralized database of assets pledged against loans could help identify existing guarantees, according to the presentation cited in media coverage. A review of banks’ leverage limits when they operate with SGRs has also been proposed.
This is not yet a fully defined package. Some of the changes related to guarantees and capital markets may require congressional approval. Therefore, the announcements do not make it possible to predict implementation timelines or specific conditions for accessing credit.
For businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises, the changes could be relevant if they do in fact expand financing options and reduce the cost of advancing receivables or securing loans. For families, the main potential change would be a wider range of loans repaid through payroll deductions. In all cases, interest rates, requirements, and the effective date will depend on the regulations and mechanisms ultimately approved.
The central question is how to turn these lines of work into available and competitive options. Until the final rules are known, it is worth distinguishing between announced objectives and measures already implemented: much of the initiatives described remain at the development stage.
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