While economist Sergio Sapena advocates raising Paraguay's debt to 70% of GDP to finance development, the Santiago Peña government has already issued $5.4 billion in bonds, and experts warn of the risks of accelerated indebtedness amid fiscal deficits.
Banco Central Del Paraguay
The BCP is Paraguay's central bank. It oversees monetary policy, financial stability, and key economic statistics such as inflation, interest rates, and exchange-rate data.
Diesel price increases of up to 39% in Paraguay are pressuring freight transport and agricultural sector costs, while also raising the technical fare for public transportation, with risk of pass-through to consumer prices.
Paraguay launched a national financial inclusion strategy for 2026-2031, which aims to promote responsible use of financial services and combat overindebtedness, following rapid growth in consumer credit in the country.
Exports from Paraguay's maquila sector totaled $858.7 million through July 2026, with growth driven mainly by new products like ethyl alcohol and biodiesel.
Ueno Bank reported intangible assets related to software systems for 2025 whose book value is around three times higher than the corresponding assets of nine other major banks in Paraguay combined. The unusual scale of the figure has raised questions within the financial sector. According to opposition lawmaker Mauricio Espínola, the Paraguayan banking association Asoban may also have approached the Central Bank over the matter.
Paraguay's securities market recorded 25% growth in the first half of 2026, reaching $6.6 billion in custodial assets, with 5,500 new investors and $625 million in primary issuances.
The Paraguayan Senate postponed the vote on the fuel transparency law and the insurance bill to form working groups, following objections from regulatory bodies and lack of consensus in committees.
Since 2008, the real estate sector has concentrated 44% of foreign direct investment in Paraguay, leading capital attraction with $4.4 billion, followed by manufacturing (26%) and financial services (20%), according to a report from the Central Bank of Paraguay.
Paraguay's banks warn that the recently achieved investment grade requires fiscal and pension reforms, along with strong institutions and regulation aligned with international standards, to ensure macroeconomic stability and competitiveness in the financial sector.
Paraguay accumulated US$10 billion in foreign direct investment between 2008 and 2024, with emphasis on non-financial services, manufacturing, and the financial sector, according to a study by the Central Bank of Paraguay and the Latin American Reserve Fund (FLAR) that points to macroeconomic stability and investment grade as attraction factors.
The Central Bank of Paraguay reported that dollar credit grew 22.47% in the first half of 2026, reaching $13.7 billion, with services, construction, and housing sectors leading the expansion, while local currency credit advanced 3.77%.
Paraguayan lawmaker Rocío Vallejo of the Partido Patria Querida had her Itaú bank account emptied following a cyberattack while accessing the bank's official website, which is under investigation and prompted a digital security alert from Paraguay's Central Bank.
Paraguay recorded its second consecutive monthly deflation in July, with a 0.1% drop in the CPI driven mainly by lower food and fuel prices, while the annual inflation rate fell to its lowest level in several years.
The dollar reached its lowest value of the year and in nearly seven years in Paraguay, closing at G. 5,961, which benefits importers but worries exporters and reduces customs revenue.
The Paraguayan Ministry of Economy and Finance will hold its third public bond issuance of the year this Wednesday, a reopening of two series maturing in 2030 and 2035, through the Asunción Stock Exchange.
The Central Bank of Paraguay has maintained the free nature of transfers between bank accounts and established maximum fee limits for commercial payment services, such as direct debits and QR code payments.
Paraguay recorded deflation of 0.3% in June, leading price stability in the region, while its energy exports fell 12.3% in the first half of the year due to increased domestic consumption.
Economic agents consulted by the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) project a decline in the dollar, stable inflation at 3.5%, and GDP growth of 4.2% for 2026.
Data from the Central Bank of Paraguay shows that digital payments are advancing while ATM withdrawals fall by 19.5%, reducing the use of cash in the country. This includes increased card usage and a 51% surge in online commerce.
Non-performing loans in the Paraguayan banking system are a cause for concern, with the National Development Bank (BNF) leading at 3.16% and Ueno Bank in second place at 2.74%, although the majority of banks maintain over 90% of their loans in the adequate solvency category.
The Asunción Stock Exchange (BVA) projects a new historic record for operations in 2026, with the expectation that the National Treasury will resume issuing public bonds through the exchange starting in July. This follows a two-year period during which issuances were made exclusively by the Central Bank.
The Paraguayan economy grew by 5.6% in the first five months of 2026, leading the regional economic climate with the highest level of optimism in Latin America.
The Paraguayan economy grew by 5.6% in the first five months of 2026, driven primarily by the primary sector, which posted a 9.9% increase, while the secondary and services sectors also showed positive performance.
The number of people with credit in Paraguay has doubled to 2.3 million over three years, according to the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP), which attributes the growth to greater financial inclusion and dismisses immediate risks, despite a prior warning from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).