“From the month of July and in these first days of August we begin to see some lights. Even our sensors, which are very sharp, are starting to see and favor a new phase. Luckily this time after two years there are positive signs of change”. You said it to the microphones of Radio Rai Antonio Patuelli, president ofAbi, commenting on the data released this morning by Confcommercio on the credit crunch.
According to what emerges from the study, in truth, the picture is not so reassuring. In the second quarter, the number of companies unable to meet their financial needs increased, while the number of requests for funding that were accepted decreased, from 29,6% to 26,9%. It is, reports Confcommercio, the "lowest percentage ever reached from 2009 to today".
Furthermore, compared to a year ago, the share of businesses that turn to the banking system to obtain a loan has practically halved, passing from 20,8% to 10,8%. The actual percentage of financed companies thus fell to just 2,9%. Lastly, all the indicators relating to the supply of credit worsened: from interest rates to the cost of banking services, from the duration of credit to the guarantees requested.
However, the banks are not there to play the part of the enemy. Second patuellicindeed, these numbers “no longer respond to the phase we are living in”: the Abi guaranteed the prime minister “the strong commitment of institutions to support the recoverywhose symptoms are already visible. We intend to make every effort to overcome the crisis so that companies have new support from the banks to return to the ordinary administration phases".
“We have also asked for an extraordinary commitment from the government so that the banks operating in Italy do not suffer penalties of a regulatory nature at the time of the transition to the European banking union – added Patuelli -. There must be a greater sensitivity on the part of the institutions to favor a virtuous circuit to which Italian banks are willing to make the maximum active and positive contribution".
