The Central Bank is evaluating reactivating the “clearing” of checks before March 31

The President of the Central Bank (BCRA), Miguel Pesce, assured on Tuesday that the monetary authority is evaluating reactivating before March 31 the clearing check to avoid breaks in the payment chain.

The suspension in the accreditation of checks until April 1 had been ordered by the entity last Friday, but the companies’ need for liquidity to pay salaries and other expenses forced the measure to be reevaluated.

“We are reviewing that rule and seeing how the chain of payments would react. We have crossed requests to activate the clearing before April 1,” Pesce said in radio statements.

In this regard, he said that they work with the national government to reactivate it “in advance” since from tomorrow the banks will have released some 250,000 million pesos for financing for SMEs at a rate of 24 percent and that “they would have resources to assist to their clients if there is any mismatch between the payment and collection of checks. “

ATMs

Asked about the distribution of cash at ATMs, Pesce said they are evaluating that cash-flow companies that collect money from supermarkets and service stations can directly credit it to the companies’ accounts.

“This is going to help us that part of the task of delivering cash is not only done by the Central Bank these days, but also by the companies that transport the flows that are exempt from the ban that the government ordered,” he explained.

In this line, he also said that they are evaluating suspending cash withdrawal fees at terminals of other ATM networks.

“The banks have made a lot of money last year. We have not allowed them to distribute profits for the next few months and we are looking at the entire commission scheme if there can be a contribution in this regard,” Pesce said.

Lastly, he affirmed that although the BCRA will increase its financing to the Treasury to pay for the measures announced to alleviate the fall in activity, such as the Emergency Family Income (IFE) or the reinforcements in retirements and allowances, “does not mean that it will go to have an inflationary impact. “

“The only thing that is being done is partially compensate these levels of demand so that people have an indispensable income for their subsistence these days.