{
  "id": 8659908,
  "title": "Argentina Household Loan Delinquency Hits 12.9%, Highest Since 2004",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/20/argentina-household-loan-delinquency-hits-12-9-highest-since-2004",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-20T08:40:48.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Rio Times",
    "slug": "the-rio-times",
    "url": "https://www.riotimesonline.com/argentina-household-loan-delinquency-129-imf-review-2026/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Argentina's household loan delinquency rate soared to 12.9% in July 2026, marking the highest level since 2004, according to the central bank. This is a significant increase from 5.6% in July 2025, representing a 7.3 percentage point rise in a single year. The delinquency rate for businesses stood at 3.6% in the same period, indicating households are falling behind significantly more often than firms. The trend has been gradually rising, reaching 2.94% in February 2025 and 12.8% by May 2026. Economists attribute the rise to rapid expansion of consumer credit while real incomes remained stagnant. When wage growth fails to keep pace with repayment demands, households began missing loan payments. A report by Fidelitas, a local financial consultancy, estimated that 57,045 companies were in irregular payment status in July 2026, which is about 12% of Argentina's roughly 480,000 active firms. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission is set to arrive in Buenos Aires on September 21, 2026, for the third review of Argentina's US$20 billion loan program, which was agreed in April 2025. The IMF team will analyze the central bank's reserve accumulation and the government's fiscal surplus target. The IMF mission's conclusions will influence the level of external assistance Argentina can expect through 2027 and the pace at which credit becomes available again.",
  "summary": "Argentine household loan delinquency hit 12.9% in July, the highest since 2004, as an IMF mission arrives Monday to review the US$20 billion loan. The post Argentina Household Loan Delinquency Hits 12.9%, Highest Since 2004 appeared first on The Rio Times .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}