Country Awards for Excellence 2017: Latin America (including Central America and Caribbean)

The Argentine banking system is beginning to return to a semblance of normality, with signs such as positive interest rates. But the road back to international standards is a long one. After many years of economic dysfunction and highly prescriptive banking regulations (including mandatory lending to segments and floors and caps on interest rates), it will take a long time for an orthodox banking sector to appear. 

More recently, the banks have also had to deal with the challenge of a recession as president Mauricio Macri’s administration goes about the painstaking job of rebuilding a sound macroeconomic environment. The green shoots of recovery have begun to appear, but loan portfolio growth is still tracking below inflation and there is pressure on banks’ returns on equity as net interest margins fall.