The Board of the BCRA has extended up to September 30 the Credit Line for Productive Investment (Línea de Financiamiento para la Inversión Productiva, LFIP), which is the financing for micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
This line was implemented by the BCRA in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and became the main source of credit for MSMEs in Argentina.
The average stock of loans granted between October 1, 2022 and January 31, 2023 through the LFIP reached ARS1,288 billion, and this amount accounted for nearly 75% of the loans granted to MSMEs and about 45% of all commercial loans.
Accrued disbursements for loans granted under this credit line have totaled about ARS4,447 billion so far, reaching more than 379,000 companies.
Terms of financing granted under the LFIP allowed financing to MSMEs, in terms of the gross domestic product (GDP), to remain above the figures recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic and its historical average.
In accordance with the regulation, financial institutions must allocate to this credit line at least 7.5% of deposits from the non-financial private sector in pesos, which shall be calculated based on the monthly average of daily balances as of March 2023.
