Summary
• In August, the broadest monetary aggregate in pesos (M3) registered a monthly growth of 2%, maintaining its year-on-year variation close to 35%. All its components showed increases.
• Among private sector deposits, term placements continued to stand out, particularly those made for amounts of less than $1 million. In August, retail fixed terms increased 5.3% and accumulated a growth of 49% in the last twelve months. Thus, they sustained the growing trend that they began to evidence since the implementation of the minimum interest rate scheme for this segment of deposits. In particular, it should be noted that since the increase in minimum interest rates established on July 27 came into force, placements of less than $1 million accumulated an increase of $11,800 million (6.4%).
• The increase in deposits in pesos made it possible to sustain the growth of loans to the private sector in local currency. These financings rose 2.4% ($15,460 million) in August and accumulated a year-on-year growth of 30.7%. Document-based loans and those essentially oriented to consumption led the growth of the month.
• In the aforementioned framework, the liquidity ratio of financial institutions in the segment in pesos decreased 0.4 p.p. compared to July, although it remained at high levels: 38.8% in terms of deposits in pesos. The reduction was explained by the decrease in excess liquidity, particularly associated with the balance of net transfers.
• Among the passive interest rates, those of the retail segment were aligned with the new minimum values established by the Central Bank at the end of July, while those of deposits of larger amounts remained relatively stable. Thus, the monthly average of the interest rate paid by private entities for fixed-term deposits of up to $100,000 and up to 35 days of term stood at 23.5%, increasing 0.8 p.p. compared to the average of July and aligning itself with the new minimum levels in force since the end of last month. For its part, the BADLAR of private banks averaged 20.9%.
• Most lending rates remained stable or decreased compared to July. In particular, the interest rate on advances to companies for more than $10 million and up to 7 days of term fell 1 p.p., averaging 25.2% in August, while the monthly average interest rate on collateral loans decreased 0.6 p.p. to 24.4% and that of mortgages fell 3.4 p.p., standing at 21.6%. For its part, the weighted average interest rate of personal loans effectively granted continued to be below the maximum levels established by the Central Bank, and was 36.5% in August.
