The provincial government has made 30,000 million pesos in credit available to the private sector in recent months: at least 9,650 million have already been put into the streets and some 20,000 million are still available. Most of these came from the funds available through Banco San Juan, which has a funding of 35,000 million, of which 25,000 were loans and the rest in a deferred check payment line. Another part, of the 5,000 million in the San Juan Quality Agency and the San Juan Fiduciary. Micro-enterprises, SMEs and large companies can access these aid. The objectives also differ: they are intended for current expenses, helping firms in crisis, and investment to grow in productivity. Depending on the type of need, those interested can go to public offices or the bank.
The new management, through the Ministry of Production, enabled a series of tools for the private sector, with funds from different origins. Although the total supply is greater (see ANR, checks…), in available credit lines the total is 35,000 million pesos, counting what goes through Banco San Juan and what is in the offices that depend on the portfolio. Of these, the total that has already been granted and has already been put on the streets or is in process, is 6,270 million pesos. Of these, the private entity has already approved 4,785 million in the Capital goods line, 2,600 in the working capital line and 1,800 million in the leasing modality. Of these, the first has funding of 10 to 1,000 million, in the lines of SMEs and large companies. The entity has another alternative, with 1,000 million pesos available for microenterprises, but the authorities did not provide details of the amount delivered.
Added to this offer through private banking are the 5,000 million that go through Agencia Calidad San Juan and Fiduciaria San Juan. In the first case, of the 2,500 million pesos available, they have already placed a total of 165 million, so more than 93.4% remains available. From the second organization, the take so far is 300 million pesos, as confirmed by its director, so another 2,200 million, 87.8%, are still available.
In all of these cases, there are inquiries and procedures initiated for more funds than were delivered. In the case of Banco San Juan, Alfredo Aciar, who is Secretary of Coordination for Economic Development, explained that there is one of the three lines that currently has queries and folders for the total funding. This is the Capital Goods line, which has 14,500 million pesos available and there are interested parties for 14,750 million so far. Although those granted do not yet reach the total funds, they believe that many of these will have positive results and that is why they do not rule out refinancing. They even see less interest in the case of the leasing line, which has 1,800 granted out of the 5,500, so they could allocate part of these funds for the most requested line.
In the agencies, the distribution of the money began a little earlier and the amount granted, which in the case of Guarantee is 6.6% and in Trust is 12%, has many more interested parties behind it. The first of the organizations, headed by Gustavo Gelusini, is focused on SMEs and smaller microenterprises. The official explained that one of the barriers they encounter is the level of informality that exists in the sector, but that regularization procedures were initiated based on the opportunity. To access, it is necessary to have the MSME certificate. The options are microcredits and the capital goods line, where they delivered 120 of the 165 million in total.
In the case of the Trust, which focuses on slightly larger loans and seeks SMEs and medium-sized companies, there was more taking of the lower value credit, which reaches 10 million, but they expect the alternative to grow to 120 million. This, which is similar to the most requested from Banco San Juan, requires a guarantee for the money to be delivered, while the smaller one is obtained with your own checks. Manoli Rodríguez, head of the office, explained that many borrowers are waiting to obtain a guarantee to finally be confirmed as beneficiaries, so they hope the intake will grow.
In all cases the offer is divided into different lines. Those that are identified by the name of working capital are intended for companies to buy stock or pay for daily operations and are, explained Aciar, “to help in the current situation.” On the other hand, the lines intended for capital goods allow companies to invest and expand their production, which is why they are the ones that excite them the most, since they speak of “economic growth.”
- ANR, checks and new lines
In addition to the more traditional credit alternatives, there are other means for San Juan companies to obtain funds. These are two ANR (non-refundable contribution) alternatives, a deferred check payment line by Banco San Juan and the offer that the CFI added in recent weeks. In the latter case, these are also lines of credit with a traditional format, but they are in their first days of operation and therefore the 4,000 million are complete.
The ANR go along two lines. A few days ago it was learned that the Ministry of Science and Technology opened a contest so that the 20 best innovative technological development projects could receive money, which comes from mining funds. At the same time, the province has an agreement with the IDB to grant 8 million dollars to companies in strategic areas. The latter is managed by the Development Agency and up to $100,000 is available for those who accredit standards, generate green developments or those with women leaders.
Finally, the 35,000 million announced in funds in Banco San Juan are completed by 10,000, which are for the payment of deferred checks. Regarding this alternative, Aciar assured that it is “highly requested” and would be close to completing the use of funds.
