The BCRA has approved the release of a new statistical series—default interest rate (tasa de intereses moratorios, TIM)—to provide courts with a new tool for determining the default interest for debts in pesos, within the framework of Section 768 c) of the Civil and Commercial Code of Argentina. A public consultation was held in relation to the project.
The TIM is calculated based on the average between a deposit interest rate (for 30-day time deposits in pesos) and a lending interest rate (derived from a weighted average of interest rates on loans in pesos granted through unsecured promissory notes and personal loans).
The average daily interest rate used to calculate the TIM fluctuates within two bands designed to preserve both the value of debts and ensure the reasonableness of their financial burden. In this sense, the effective daily interest rate can neither exceed the daily change of the reference stabilization coefficient (coeficiente de estabilización de referencia, CER) plus a 3% effective annual rate, nor can it be lower than the daily change of CER minus a 3% effective annual rate.
Under the Services and procedures section on the BCRA’s website, users will find the TIM calculator, to calculate interest and the resulting total amount after entering the initial amount and the applicable period. The portal will also show the relevant resolution along with the methodological annex. In the Statistics and indicators section, the historical series will be available in Excel format and daily updated.
With this decision, the BCRA reaffirms its commitment to regulatory transparency, citizen participation and administrative simplification, offering a new tool that may contribute towards legal certainty and predictability, reasonableness and equity in economic relations.
