If you run an SME, you're likely familiar with the challenge of balancing day-to-day operations with the investments needed to grow. In Argentina, IDB Invest helps address that challenge through loans and guarantees, complemented by capital mobilized from other investors. Over the past year, IDB Invest has committed nearly $900 million through local financial institutions to expand SMEs' access to finance.

These operations help SMEs access both working capital financing and longer-term funding to invest in equipment, improve productivity, and expand their businesses. The IDB Group's 2025-2028 Country Strategy for Argentina prioritizes this segment, which accounts for 50% of formal employment and 97% of all businesses in the country.

Financing for Investment and Growth

Access to credit for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Argentina improved during 2025. By December 2025, 74.6% of individuals and firms with a MiPyME certificate had access to financing, while long-term lending grew faster than in 2024, according to the Central Bank of Argentina.

IDB Invest is actively supporting the market by expanding long-term financing.
"Through our operations, we deploy our own capital and mobilize funding from other investors. This approach, which we call Originate-to-Share, allows us to expand the amount of financing available to banks serving SMEs," said Gian Franco Carassale, IDB Invest Chief Executive Officer for the Southern Cone.

Expanding Access to Finance for SMEs

Under this strategy, IDB Invest has originated operations including up to $100 million for Banco Comafi, $200 million for Banco Macro, $179 million for Banco Supervielle, $65 million for Banco CMF, and a $300 million loan for Banco Galicia.

Since 2016, IDB Invest operations have supported more than 8 million SMEs across Latin America and the Caribbean. By combining its own financing (A loans) with capital mobilized from other investors (B loans), IDB Invest helps expand the financial system's capacity to meet businesses' investment, growth, and job creation needs.

Evidence points to a positive link between access to finance, business growth, and formal job creation. An IDB Invest study covering 21,696 firms in 30 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean found that, under certain conditions, greater access to credit is associated with increased formal employment. On average, the study estimates an association of four additional permanent jobs per year for every $1 million in additional credit when firms use financing for fixed-asset investments and operate in competitive banking systems.

Liquidity to Capture Business Opportunities

One tool that IDB Invest is promoting in Argentina to strengthen SME liquidity is reverse factoring. Through this mechanism, suppliers can receive early payment on invoices issued to large corporate buyers. Because financing is based on the anchor company's credit quality, SMEs can often obtain better terms than they would through financing based solely on their own credit profile. This frees up working capital, supports operations, and strengthens participation in regional and global value chains.

To expand the reach of this instrument, IDB Invest provided Banco Santander Argentina with partial guarantees of up to $50 million for early-payment transactions, covering up to 90% of potential defaults by anchor companies.

Recent IDB Invest research shows that the recurring use of reverse factoring is associated with significant increases in SME sales.
"By improving liquidity and strengthening working capital, SMEs can respond more quickly to new business opportunities, fulfill more orders, and expand their customer base," said Lucas Figal Garone, Lead Economist for Development Impact in Latin America and the Caribbean at IDB Invest.
IDB Invest's work with Argentine financial institutions goes beyond financing. It also includes technical advisory services to strengthen the strategies and capabilities of banks serving SMEs, ranging from corporate governance to financial product development and analytics.

The goal is to address the two challenges highlighted at the outset: ensuring that SMEs have the liquidity they need to operate today while also having access to longer-term financing to invest and grow tomorrow. Expanding both opportunities is essential to helping more businesses increase productivity, create jobs, and participate in increasingly competitive value chains.