Río Negro got the national Government to agree to modify the schedule for returning a financial advance of ARS 120.000 million. The original scheme was supposed to start in the second half of August 2026, but the negotiation will move at least part of the obligation to 2027. The final conditions were not yet closed at the time the change was announced.
The initial agreement established four monthly and consecutive installments of ARS 30.000 million starting in August. The interest, calculated at a rate of 15%, had to be paid in December. The operation authorized the national government to apply direct deductions on the revenue-sharing transfers, a mechanism intended to guarantee reimbursement within the current fiscal year.
The assistance was granted in April through Decreto 219/2026, which enabled twelve provinces to request funds to cover temporary imbalances. Río Negro received ARS 45.000 million at the end of April, another ARS 45.000 million at the end of May, and the remaining ARS 30.000 million on 29 of June. The total was approximately equivalent to a monthly net payroll of provincial employees.
The Government of Alberto Weretilneck negotiates the review with the team of the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo. The national position would be to still charge in 2026 a part possibly close to one third of the capital and transfer the rest to the following year. That distribution was an option under discussion, not a new definitive schedule nor a forgiveness of the provincial debt.
The postponement reduces pressure on a fund that must also face at the beginning of September a payment of bono Castello exceeding USD 41 million, calculated at about ARS 62.000 million. The Province had presented the national advance as a less costly source than resorting to bank financing through Fondo Unificado de Cuentas Oficiales.
The provincial Ministry of Finance informed the Legislature at the end of July about the original terms, following a request signed by nine Peronist legislators. That response did not yet include the later renegotiation. The confirmed result is a partial extension: the amount to be deducted in 2026, the balance carried into 2027 and the exact dates remain subject to the final agreement.
