The growth in loans of cooperative banks to households and businesses continued in 2018 as well. This is evident from the data released by the National Association of cooperative banks (Assopopolari), according to which at the end of June the credit disbursed increased in trend terms by '1,4%.
The increase achieved in the first six months of 2018 adds to the positive data recorded in the previous months, close to 1%, and above the national average.
In detail, new loans since the beginning of the year have reached a total of 40 billion euros, of which 15 billion euros to smaller companies, 23 billion euros to others and 7 billion euros to households for new home loans.
According to the Secretary General of the National Association of Cooperative Banks Giuseppe De Lucia Lumeno "These results constitute a concrete response to how Cooperative Banks constantly match their offer to the needs of a community that wants to remain united and able to face the changes of an increasingly open, competitive and technological market. Once again – continued De Lucia Lumeno – the vocation to support the real economy that cooperative banks have historically always shown to pursue is confirmed, above all in the most delicate moments of the economic cycle, compensating with their counter-cyclical action for the excesses deriving from an activity too unbalanced towards finance, which still today risks producing dangerous consequences along that path of inclusion that has always inspired local banks.”
