Banco de la Nación Argentina's loan portfolio grew 90% in 2017, helping the company boost its market share of private sector credit by 30%, Clarín reported, citing figures from the state-run lender.

The bank's credit portfolio held about 213.27 billion Argentine pesos at the end of 2017, up from 112.62 billion pesos a year earlier, as the bank focused on increasing lending to companies and mortgage credit disbursements.

Discounting the effect of inflation, the bank's loan portfolio expanded 65% last year, compared to average growth of 21% for Argentina's banking system as a whole, the publication reported.

The expansion reflects a change in Banco de la Nación's strategy, as it sold central bank-issued notes known as Lebacs and diverted those resources toward lending. This was part of the Argentine government's plan to foster the mortgage lending market following the creation of inflation-indexed units called UVAs.

The bank will also reportedly transfer 20 billion pesos to Argentina's government in 2018 to help reduce the country's deficit.

As of Feb. 14, US$1 was equivalent to 20.01 Argentine pesos.