Despite the country's lockdown caused by the coronavirus emergency, in March jobs of the Italian popular banks they increased by 2,1%, recording positive trends both for households (+2,8%) and businesses (+1,8%). The figures were released on Friday by Assopopolari, the national association of cooperative banks.
As it regards instead collection, the analysis shows that – again in March – deposits continued to grow, recording +5,8% on an annual basis.
On both fronts, the figures of cooperative banks exceed those of the Italian banking system average, which in the same month saw loans rise by 1,4% and deposits by 5,7%.
These numbers “confirm how cooperative banks work – he comments Joseph DeLucia Lumen , general secretary of Assopopolari - continued, even in a difficult month like March with the first measures to combat Covid-19, in their action of support and closeness to the reference customers, i.e. families and small and medium-sized enterprises. A closeness that also materialized in the following weeks with the adoption of the measures introduced by the government to further encourage credit and with autonomous initiatives in favor of hospitals and local health agencies that have been at the forefront in this phase".
On the side of financial solidity, the Cet 1 coefficient of cooperative banks stands on average at 16,4%, "well above the minimum requirement required by prudential supervision - concludes the note from Assopopolari - and with a significant degree of homogeneity between the various institutions, confirmation of a widespread solidity”.
