Summary
In August, the average monthly balance of deposits in pesos in the private sector increased 1% in nominal terms, with a growth of 1.6% in demand deposits and 0.5% in fixed-term deposits.
Individuals continued to renew their fixed term in pesos during the month and their average balance remained stable. Legal entities, mainly Mutual Funds, reduced their time deposits by 9% after August 9 and transferred them to demand deposits.
The bimonthly average (July-August) of the monetary base reached $1,347.1 billion. After the BCRA’s sales of dollars in the month, the original WB target ($1,343.2 billion) was adjusted to $1,328 billion
. Thus, the WB’s bimonthly average balance was 0.3% above the original target and 1.4% above the adjusted target.
The interest rate on LELIQ placements increased with the increase in financial volatility. It completed a monthly increase of 22.9 p.p. to reach 83.3% annually at the end of August. The interest rates
paid on time deposits accompanied this rise. For example, the 20th MT of private banks ended the month at 61.9%, 10.3 p.p. above its level at the end of July. The average monthly balance of private sector dollar deposits in August decreased by 3.2%.
The behavior of dollar deposits was heterogeneous throughout the month, with private sector dollar deposits growing until August 9 and began to decline as of August 12. At the end
of the month, they stood at US$26.6 billion, 17% below the level they presented at the end of July.
In August, the nominal and seasonally adjusted balance of loans in pesos to the private sector grew 1.6%, driven by card financing and advances. The balance of loans in dollars to the
private sector ended the month at US$15,430 million, registering a decrease of US$824 million compared to July 31.
