"Direct blow to SME financing": Stock exchanges across the country condemned the pension reform approved by the Senate.

Twelve stock exchanges across the country, including those in Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Rosario , and Mendoza, issued a harsh statement rejecting the pension reform approved by the Senate, which included a modification to the tax regime for Mutual Guarantee Societies (SGR) . For the entities, the change represents a " direct threat to SME financing and employment ," affecting one of the most important federal credit instruments for small and medium-sized businesses.

The text, also signed by the Santa Fe, Chaco, Bahía Blanca, Corrientes, and BYMA (Mexico City) Stock Exchanges, questions the fact that the measure was implemented "without debate or consultation" and warns that it represents a significant setback in terms of productive development. According to the text, the SGR system has assisted more than 100,000 MSMEs, supporting more than 500,000 formal jobs and mobilizing more than 3.8 trillion pesos in productive credit.

For the signatory entities, the amendment approved by Congress " destroys a virtuous financing system " that combined efficiency, asset commitment, and fiscal returns. The elimination of tax exemptions for SGR contributors—established in Article 10 of the law—could defund the system, which currently supports one in three SME loans in Argentina.

" The supposed 'fiscal cost' is barely 0.02% of GDP ," they noted, while pointing out that the financed companies pay taxes that largely offset this figure. In fact, they emphasized that productive credit represents only 11% of Argentina's GDP, and that without the SGRs, this percentage would be even lower.

The inclusion of this clause in a pension law raised alarms among market entities and the SME sector, who question the link between corporate financing and the increase in pension benefits. In his speech Thursday night at the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange, President Javier Milei announced that he would veto the entire law, questioning the strategy of the opposition bloc that promoted the bill, led by Kirchnerism.

Ignacio Pérez Riba , secretary of the Argentine Chamber of Companies and Guarantee Funds (Casfog), maintained that the SGR system is not only fiscally efficient, but also generates a "positive externality" by stimulating employment, production, and tax collection. According to his data, the annual cost of the exemptions to the State is just USD 136 million.

"Without the support of the SGRs, thousands of small businesses will be excluded from the financial system," he warned, adding that the scheme has been operating successfully for three decades, serving as a bridge between SMEs and bank or stock market credit.

The signatory entities demanded urgent legislative rectification, warning that failure to do so would jeopardize the continuity of thousands of businesses and jobs across the country.