Household savings are collapsing, the level of corporate debt is increasing, the number of bankruptcies is growing "at a rapid pace". Bankitalia's annual report photographs a situation that confirms fears about the trend of the Italian economy. 2011 accentuated the trends of the previous year, recording a general deterioration in the country's economic situation.
FAMILIES SAVE LESS. Households' propensity to save fell to 12%. The crisis accentuated a decline that actually began in the 90s. A more marked reduction for households with a young head of household (less than 35 years old), whose savings rate has been practically zero since 2010. For those who manage to put something aside, especially families with over 55 household heads, the path of bonds government bonds remain the most popular, especially in the face of a tendential increase in interest rates following the financial turbulence on sovereign bonds.
INCREASE CONCENTRATION OF FINANCIAL WEALTH. Between 10 and 2008, the share of financial assets owned by the 2010% of the richest families rose again from 44 to 47 per cent, and more than 60% of financial assets were held by families with a head of the household over 55 years of age. On the other hand, the number of young families on the risk of poverty threshold is increasing, now almost 7%. As far as debt is concerned, however, at the end of 2011 that of Italian households remained low, at around 65% of the available debt, unlike a European average which hovers around 80%.
FROM BANKS MORTGAGES ONLY FOR THE HOUSE. In 2011, for Bankitalia, the amount of loans for the purchase of households' homes grew by 3,6%, against recourse to credit which grew by an average of 3,4%. Money from banks yes, but only for real estate investments and consumer credit. For the rest, the lenders continued to keep the taps closed throughout 2011 but a partial reversal of the trend was observed in the first months of 2012.
THE DIFFICULTIES OF ENTERPRISES. 2011 confirmed the difficulty of Italian companies in using their own financial resources to support investments. The financial requirement, slightly higher than last year, was 33 billion. The "severe delays" of payments in commercial transactions weigh on the balance sheets, increased by about 8 days compared to a year ago. Today, on average, a company waits for payments for an average of 104 days, a wait that becomes biblical in the South where it can even double.
INCREASE FINANCIAL DEBT and LAVERAGE. The financial debts of companies increased by 19 billion (0,7%). Laverage, ie the index that measures the proportion between own and third-party capital in total financial resources, also rose by about three percentage points. However, the ratio between financial debt and GDP in Italy is still significantly lower than that recorded in the major European economies.
BANKRUPTCY IS INCREASING, STARTUPS ARE DECREASING. In 2011, the birth rate of companies fell to 0,8%, slightly above the values observed in the two-year period 2008-09, due to a marked reduction in births and, to a lesser extent, an increase in terminations. The number of company bankruptcies instead rose to over 12, 7,4% more than in 2010 which was already 19,8% higher than the previous year, involving almost all the main production sectors. And the data for the first quarter of 2012 show a negative balance of 26.000 businesses, due to the sharp increase in terminations (8,5% compared to the corresponding quarter) and the simultaneous, albeit slight, reduction in registrations, with entries into bankruptcy proceedings (over 3.000) increased by 4,2% over the corresponding quarter.
