Banco Macro (BMA), Supervielle (SUPV): Argentine Dollar Loans Reach Peso Earners

On 11 and 20 August 2026, Grupo Supervielle (SUPV) and Banco Macro (BMA) each used their second-quarter earnings calls to describe the same shift in Argentine dollar loans: the line defining which companies a local bank may lend dollars to is being redrawn, and the dollar book is the only lending line still growing at either bank [1][2].

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The test moved from the borrower to the bank's own deposits

For twenty-four years, an Argentine company that wanted to borrow dollars from a local bank had to pass one test: it had to earn foreign currency itself, either as an exporter or with a guarantee from one [3]. The rule dates from the 2001 crisis and was meant to stop a company with peso-only revenue from taking on dollar debt it could not repay after a devaluation.

On 13 August the central bank removed that eligibility test and replaced it with a limit on the lender. A bank's total dollar loans may not exceed 15% of the foreign-currency deposits it has taken in, and the loans carry a 125% capital requirement [3]. What gets examined is now the bank's balance sheet rather than the borrower's revenue, so an eligibility line has become a quota.

The newly eligible borrowers are companies with peso revenue: cement, real estate, utilities, telecom, autos and construction. The economy minister named the auto and construction industries as the ones that asked for the change [4]. Until now these borrowers could only fund in pesos, against a TAMAR benchmark rate near 22.4% in August, while dollar loans price in single digits [5]. The trade-off is that the borrower takes on an unhedged foreign-currency liability.

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Guidance cut across the book, with growth left only in dollars

Banco Macro's CFO, Jorge Scarinci, confirmed the new rule on the 20 August call and said it will bring some growth to the loan portfolio [1]. On the same call he cut full-year loan growth guidance from the 15-20% in real terms given at the first quarter to 2-5%, with peso pension loans assumed to grow in line with monthly inflation - zero in real terms - and dollar loans assumed to grow 2-2.5% a month [1]. The second-quarter numbers point the same way: private-sector financing rose 3% in the quarter, personal lending 2% and dollar lending 1% [1].

Grupo Supervielle showed the same split two days before the rule changed. Its dollar commercial loans grew 6% in original currency in the quarter while retail loans fell 2% [2], and chairman Patricio Supervielle said dollar loans to individuals would not happen but that corporations which do not export, yet run business models linked to the dollar, could be brought in [2]. Taken together, the two disclosures support one reading: dollar lending is the only line either bank will underwrite growth in, and its customer base has just been widened. The size is modest. The 15% allowance corresponds to roughly $5.2bn of new lending capacity against a system dollar loan book of $24.7bn [3].

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How much a bank can lend now depends on the dollar deposits it holds

With the constraint relocated, the amount of dollar credit a bank can extend follows the foreign-currency deposits it attracts. System dollar deposits have risen from $14bn to $40bn, and dollar loans equal 61% of them [3]. Banks that hold their deposits get the larger quota. Demand that previously went to cross-border dollar loans and offshore issuance can now be booked locally.

The metrics to check next are each bank's dollar loan balance, its share of the total book, and the foreign-currency deposits behind it. The boundary is equally clear. The market read the change as negative for the lenders: between 13 and 20 August, Banco Macro fell from $80.43 to $72.87, and Grupo Financiero Galicia (GGAL), BBVA Argentina (BBAR) and Grupo Supervielle all declined over the same week [6]. Argentina's country risk premium rose to 500 basis points on 18 August, the highest since 10 June [7], and Banco Macro's own guidance assumes a 12-13% peso devaluation between June and December [1]. Banco Macro is also the only bank in coverage to have held a call since the rule changed - GGAL's most recent call was on 5 March and BBVA Argentina's on 27 May, so neither has addressed the measure [8].

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Companies exposed to this change

• Telecom Argentina (TEO): Its revenue is almost entirely in pesos while its spending is priced in dollars, with quarterly capital expenditure of about $0.3bn, or 18.4% of revenue, on fiber-to-the-home and 5G. It does not export, so it could not borrow dollars from a local bank before, which makes it the largest listed member of the newly eligible borrower class [9].
• Ternium (TX): Its Argentine unit sells flat steel into construction and auto assembly, the two industries the economy minister named. Management said on 5 August that local construction is recovering slowly from low levels and manufacturing remains weak; if those customers can move working capital out of peso credit into dollars, steel demand sits one step further down the chain [10].
• Bladex (BLX): This pan-Latin American trade finance bank supplies exactly the cross-border dollar credit Argentine corporates had to use, and its second-quarter portfolio growth was led by Panama and Argentina. Local banks can now offer the same product directly and would compete for the same borrowers [11].

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Sources

[1] Drillr - Banco Macro (BMA) - 2026-08-20 - FY2026 Q2 earnings call

"In relation to the new regulation, the new measure that the central bank announced, where banks can lend up to 15% of US dollar deposits to those companies that are not generating US dollars, we think that that is something that will bring some growth to the portfolio."

[2] Drillr - Grupo Supervielle (SUPV) - 2026-08-11 - FY2026 Q2 earnings call

[3] Buenos Aires Herald - Argentine banks allowed to issue US dollar loans to any company - 2026-08-13 - news report - https://buenosairesherald.com/economics/argentine-banks-are-now-allowed-to-issue-us-dollars-loans-to-any-company

[4] Reuters (via WTVB) - Argentina will ease bank dollar lending to companies, economy minister says - 2026-08-13 - news report - https://wtvbam.com/2026/08/13/argentina-will-ease-bank-dollar-lending-to-companies-economy-minister-says/

[5] Rio Times - Argentina's private credit squeeze - 2026-08-21 - news report - https://www.riotimesonline.com/argentina-private-credit-squeeze-2026/

[6] Drillr - four listed Argentine banks - 2026-08-20 - daily closing prices

[7] Sina Finance - Argentina's country risk premium rises to 500 basis points - 2026-08-18 - news wire - https://finance.sina.cn/7x24/2026-08-19/detail-ininukpa8527819.d.html

[8] Drillr - earnings call coverage screen for listed Argentine banks - 2026-08-21 - data query

[9] Drillr - Telecom Argentina (TEO) - 2026-08-12 - earnings call

[10] Drillr - Ternium (TX) - 2026-08-05 - FY2026 Q2 earnings call

[11] Drillr - Bladex (BLX) - 2026-07-28 - FY2026 Q2 earnings call

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