In May gross bad debts of Italian banks are back to close to 200 billion euro. The figure emerges from the supplement to the Bank of Italy's statistical bulletin on 'money and banks'.
In detail, gross non-performing loans reached the level of 199,99 billion (from 198,3 billion in April) and are approaching the January record (202 billion). Net non-performing loans, writes the Bank of Italy, amount to 84,94 billion (83,9 billion at the end of April).
In any case, the run of bad debts of Italian banks, adds the Bank of Italy, is slowing down. Indeed, in May the annual growth rate, taking into account statistical discontinuities but without correcting for securitisations and other sales, was 3,2% (against 3,5% in April).
On the front of the collection, private sector deposits grew by 3,2% in May, a marked slowdown from April (+5,4%). Funding with bank bonds recorded yet another sharp double-digit drop (-14,8%) on April's levels (-15%).
For home loan rates for familiesthey keep going down. The average rate (apr) on home purchase mortgages fell to 2,61% in May, the lowest level in the latest surveys from via Nazionale. The previous month the APR rate was indicated at 2,66% and in May 2015 at 2,91%.
They also drop rates for larger companies, those over one million euro: to 1,22% from the average 1,46% reported in April. Only a filing, however, for the conditions applied to smaller companies (loans of up to 1 million): the average rate reported by the Bank of Italy for May is 2,57% (2,53% in April and 3% in May 2015).
Finally, bank loans to Italian companies return to growth after two months of decline. In May, loans to companies recorded an annual increase of 0,3% after the declines recorded in April and March. The plus sign then returns to the same levels as in February.
Loans to familieshowever, they continue to accelerate: in May the annual growth rate was 1,5% (1,2% in April), confirming the turnaround recorded for the twelfth consecutive month. In general, loans to the private sector (also including insurance companies and pension funds) grew by 0,8% in May over the twelve months.
