SSeven years after the outbreak of the global financial crisis, which began in 2008, most European countries continue to have to deal with large amounts of non-performing debt (non-performing loans, or non-performing loans, NPLs). This is demonstrated by a report published by the International Monetary Fund, according to which the NPLs of the European Union have reached 1.000 billion euros, more than 9% of the region's GDP, at the end of 2014, more than double the figure in 2009. In particular, in the Eurozone, impaired assets amounted to 932 billion dollars at the end of 2014, more than doubling since 2008 , 9,2% of GDP.
For this, in the light of a still unsteady recovery in Europe, according to the IMF, solving the Npl problem quickly, in order to then disburse new credit under better conditions, must be a macroeconomic priority. According to the Washington institute, "in many European economies, especially those in the south of the Eurozone and in the eastern part of Europe, the number of NPLs is high and constantly increasing". The IMF explains that reducing the amount of non-performing assets "can therefore be a crucial factor in supporting credit growth", especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, which, as mentioned, rely more on bank loans. Furthermore, unblocking the credit channels "could favor the transmission of the effects of monetary policy to the real economy".
