Almost 900 billion non-performing loans "dance" on the heads of European banks and their customers. This is to be exact 879 billion euros at the end of 2013, equivalent to 9% of the Eurozone's GDP. The ECB did the bill and included it in its May report on financial stability. The document underlines that the aggregate figure for NPEs (Non-performing exposures) also shows very significant differences from one country to another. The share of doubtful loans in relation to total bank assets varies in fact from 4% in Finland to 57% in Cyprus. Italy ranks 5th in the ranking of the most exposed and is closer to Greece than to Germany or France with a share of problem loans exceeding 20%.
According to the European Central Bank, the two key factors for a solution to the problem of bank non-performing loans are, on the one hand, the legal context and the efficiency of the judicial system; on the other, the willingness and ability of states to support the process by providing incentives for the system to get out of the impasse.
