Executive summary
During the second half of 1996, deposits grew significantly – 6% in the period – consolidating the trend observed during the previous two quarters. It should be noted that 60% of this increase corresponded to demand deposits, while considering by type of currency, 85% took place in the segment in pesos. Likewise, a lengthening of the terms of arrangement was observed: 42% of the increase in fixed-term deposits was arranged for more than 60 days.
The broad monetary aggregate M3* also grew significantly during this period, reaching a rate of 6%. During this period, the integration of liquidity requirements increased in excess of the growth in deposits and stood at 15.3% of deposits. As in previous quarters, financial institutions continued to cancel rediscounts, and loans to the non-financial private sector, according to the Central Bank’s new population survey, have begun to increase.
The Central Bank’s international reserves continued to increase and reached their highest level since the implementation of Convertibility this
quarter. Thus, reserves in gold,
foreign currency and placements stood at US$17,355 million. Financial liabilities also
increased, but their support in gold and foreign exchange reserves increased by 1% to 92.4%.
In line with the increase in deposits, passive rates reached their lowest level during
Convertibility, as did the peso-dollar rate differential. The interest rate applied to loans to blue-chip companies is very close to its lowest level in the historical series.
In the previous issue of this Bulletin, the data on financial institutions between November 1995 and January 1996 were analysed. This edition includes information up to April 1996. In this period, the growth of private banks continued with an increase in assets of 7.5%. At the same time, the efficiency and quality indicators of the portfolio remained stable at the levels of the previous quarter.
It should be noted that private entities showed increases in their sources of financing, with a significant part of the funds allocated to the granting of loans. The items that grew the most were current account advances and signature documents, with growth rates of 4% and 3.5%, respectively, during the quarter.
