Private credit rises to 12.5 percent of GDP as mortgages revive
Argentine bank credit to the private sector reached 12.5 percent of GDP in July as fiscal consolidation enabled a revival in lending. BCRA director Juan Curutchet reported that nearly 65,000 families secured mortgages between 2024 and mid-2026.
Ending the crowding out cycle
Bank credit in pesos reached 9.2 percent of GDP in July, rising to 12.5 percent when including foreign-currency loans, according to Banco Central de la República Argentina (BCRA) director Juan Curutchet.
The expansion follows fiscal adjustments under President Javier Milei and Economy Minister Luis Caputo, which eliminated public sector financing pressures that historically crowded out private borrowers.
Between 2024 and the first half of 2026, nearly 65,000 families secured a mortgage loan.
A newly launched Sustainability Guarantee Fund auction mechanism for UVA time deposits aims to inject bank funding for an estimated 20,000 additional first-time home purchases.
A wide regional credit gap
Despite the recent recovery, Argentine credit depth lags regional peers substantially.
World Bank data for 2024 show private credit at 40 percent of GDP in Peru, 76 percent in Brazil, and 104 percent in Chile, compared to over 200 percent in the United States.
The gap is most severe in mortgages, where Argentina's loan stock barely exceeds 1 percent of GDP, versus 27 percent in Chile and 50 percent in the United States.
Curutchet noted that sustained fiscal balance remains essential to extend deposit maturities and support long-term lending.
A foundation, not the finish line
The return of mortgage lending marks a genuine milestone for an economy starved of private credit.
Yet closing the massive regional gap requires decades of fiscal discipline rather than targeted state fund auctions.
Without lasting macroeconomic stability, any credit boom risks repeating past cycles of abrupt contraction.
Source: Toward a society of homeowners
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