Overview
- Household past‑due loans rose to 11.5% in March, a new high in data going back more than 20 years, according to consultancy 1816 using Central Bank figures after 17 straight months of increases.
- Nonbank lenders, including popular digital wallets, show far deeper stress with delinquency at 30.1% in March, a level that concentrates risk in small, everyday consumer loans.
- Economy Minister Luis Caputo said many families borrowed expecting inflation and a weaker peso to shrink their debts and said the government asked banks to lengthen terms and charge lower rates.
- Personal loans carry an average bank rate near 68% nominal a year, but the full annual cost to borrowers can reach 130%–150% once fees, insurance, VAT and provincial taxes are added, which erodes repayment capacity.
- Peso lending showed only a tentative turn, with the Central Bank reporting a 0.6% real rise in April led by credit cards and secured lines, while dollar loans to the private sector hit a record US$22.73 billion as banks leaned on hard‑currency funding.