The largest American banks have revised their financial support plans for Argentina. Instead of the promised $20 billion assistance, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup have focused on a more modest short-term credit facility of around $5 billion. The new arrangement includes a repo mechanism, under which Argentina will exchange its investment portfolio for dollars from the banks.
These funds are necessary to repay Argentina's debt in January, totaling approximately $4 billion. The original plan included a $20 billion currency swap with the US Treasury and a separate bank loan mechanism for the same amount, which was announced by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trump’s administration in the autumn. The banks' new decision indicates a more cautious approach to financing the Argentine government, which remains financially unstable despite the reforms implemented by President Javier Milei.