Wire reporting: (AP, via ABC News)

Paraguay President Santiago Peña resigned Thursday after the collapse of digital lender Ueno froze millions of customer accounts and lawmakers prepared to debate his removal^6,7,8.

The conservative economist, who took office in August 2023, said in a recorded address that he was stepping down with the country's stability, social peace and democratic institutions in mind, according to Reuters and AP^7,8.

Paraguay's central bank ordered a resolution of Ueno on Tuesday after finding the bank's solvency ratio had fallen below half the required minimum^6,9. Euronews said the bank's app stopped showing balances around 03:24 that morning and that board member Liana Caballero told the public, "We proceeded to close the institution; neither the app, nor the cards, nor any service is active as of today"⁹.

Ueno served about 2.94 million customers, roughly 60 percent of Paraguay's adult population, DW reported⁶. The bank held on the order of $800 million to $850 million in public-sector deposits, including pension and health-care funds managed by the Social Security Institute, known as IPS^6,9. IPS financial manager Gladys Vera said the institute held $355 million at Ueno, about 9 percent of its investments⁶.

Depositors queued at closed branches in Asunción and elsewhere, and retirees, students and workers marched Wednesday demanding their money back and Peña's impeachment^6,9. Hundreds of Ueno conglomerate employees protested at the Labor Ministry on Thursday over unpaid wages and severance, DW said⁶.

Thirty-five opposition lawmakers and ruling-party dissidents submitted impeachment articles in the 80-seat Chamber of Deputies, accusing Peña of conflicts of interest, misuse of pension funds and institutional cover-ups tied to Ueno^6,7. The motion cited his past stake in Ueno Holding, two loans from the bank, alleged interference at IPS and his 2023 appointment of central bank chief Carlos Carvallo, a former Financiera Ueno chair; the document said the central bank approved the firm's conversion into a bank 83 days after that appointment⁶. Peña sold his Ueno Holding shares in April 2025, DW reported⁶.

DW said the resignation followed the withdrawal of support by Congress President Basilio Núñez and Colorado Party leader Horacio Cartes⁶. AP said both of the ruling party's main lower-house factions had pledged to back impeachment after Cartes withdrew support⁸.

Authorities detained eight senior executives, including founder Miguel Vázquez and bank president Juan Manuel Gustale, DW and AP reported^6,8. Prosecutors charged 27 bank officials and associates with offenses including breach of trust and attempted fraud; lawyers for several detainees said they needed time to review the allegations⁶.

Peña pledged legislation to return savings as quickly as possible, AP and DW said^6,8. Euronews said the legal guarantee fund covers each customer up to 75 minimum wages, about $37,700, and that an importers' group warned of a 35 percent drop in major-retailer sales⁹.

What remains unresolved is how much depositors and public agencies will recover in the liquidation, whether Congress will formally accept the resignation, and how the impeachment case proceeds if it continues^6,7,8.