Consumer financing has fallen significantly in the last four years. According to the analysis of the “Study of the Argentine consumer financing market”, developed by Claves Información Competitiva, the fall in loans for the consumptiontaking into account the personal loans and credit cardregistered a decrease of 40.8% in real terms, deflated by the CPI Indec.
They came to represent 45.6% of total loans to the private sector, when in 2018 they were 49.8%. This deterioration, the report indicates, is due to the weakness registered by domestic demand with the economic crisis of 2018 and 2019, the health emergency and the strong growth in financing from entities to the Central Bank and the National Treasury, partly displacing credit. to the private sector. In addition, the increasing regulations on lending rates also reduce the incentive for the offering entities.
The report indicates that, although it is possible for the sector to improve in the short term in private consumption and financing for the electoral period, in the medium term the perspectives are not favorable due to various factors.
In the first place, as business competitiveness does not have much room in the current context, the dynamism of wages will continue to be limited, limiting domestic demand.
In the same sense, the lack of dollars in the economy that is reflected in the low international reserves means that there is no
room for domestic spending and wages to grow above inflation and the dollar.
In disaggregated terms, the study found that personal loans showed a decrease of 61.9% between 2018 and
2022, coming to represent 16.5% of total loans in 2022, versus 27.7% in 2018. Credits with credit cards, meanwhile, they showed a decrease of 16.4% between 2018 and 2022, coming to represent 29.0% of total loans in 2022, versus 22.1% in 2018).