Too many non-performing loans continue to weigh on the banks of the Eurozone: their total amount today exceeds 800 million euros, or double compared to the beginning of 2009. This is what we read in the Global Financial Stability Report (Gfsr) drawn up by the Monetary Fund international. The report states that the problem is largely attributable to loans granted to companies, especially domestic ones.
As for our country, the Fund maintains that the large stock of non-performing loans in the belly of Italian banks, largely on loans to businesses, continues to limit profitability and credit capacity. To get bank funding back to the economy, lenders therefore need to quickly address the issue by strengthening their balance sheets.
"Banks in the most stressed European countries continue to be weighed down by the large stock of bad debts, largely the result of excess corporate debt and the economic slowdown," writes the IMF.
According to the report, in 2012 the exposure of Italian banks to companies whose pre-tax profits are lower than the interest expenditure constituted between 20 and 30% of the total corporate debt. This exposure is defined as "significant" and "persistent".
For the data released today by Bank of Italy, in February the total of bank non-performing loans grew by 24,3% compared to the same period of the previous year.
