The Central Bank has been keeping a number of private sector banks from paying dividends to shareholders in a temporary, precautionary measure after stress tests analyzing areas of concern, a source at the central bank told agencies.

The Central Bank wants to make very sure that no bank will need a bailout or capital injection before it allows them pay dividends.

Banks that have not been able to distribute dividends from 2008 profit as the central bank puts them through a rigorous evaluation include Banco Macro, Banco Patagonia, BBVA Banco Frances, Banco Santander Rio, and others, according to banking sources.

The Central Bank analyzed rising delinquent loan rates, the banks' practice of accounting for their sovereign debt holdings at face value even though market value is much lower, and the limited access to lending markets if it were needed.

"We did stress tests ... this is a precautionary measure," the central bank source said on condition of not being identified. He said once the economy has stabilized, the restrictions would no longer apply.

The Central Bank began last month subjecting private banks' plans to pay dividends to a rigorous analysis, much lengthier than normal.

The banks are seeking to pay out a total of some US$110 million in dividends that was approved in shareholder assemblies in April, Clarín newspaper and other media have reported.

Argentina's banking system has been profitable and isolated from the financial failures that have hit other banks around the world because the economy is highly cash-based, lending practices are conservative and profit is largely fee-based.

The central bank's action has not hit prices of bank stocks, which have risen this year in Argentina, along with the rest of the market.

Bank balance statements register holdings in Argentine sovereign bonds at face value, much higher than market value, as investors have shied away from Argentine debt due to interventionist government policies, doubts about key economic data and concerns about the tight government budget.

The delinquent loan rate in Argentina's banking sector is around 3 percent, lower than regional and historic levels. The central bank source said it is "growing but not worrying."