Spanish Banks’ Non-Performing Loans Fall To 4.4%, The Lowest Since 2009

bank spainThe Bank of Spain

Non-performing loans granted by credit institutions to companies and individuals fell to 4.4% in June, compared with 4.55% in May and 4.67% a year earlier, according to provisional data from the Bank of Spain. This is its lowest level since April 2009, when the NPL ratio began its climb – which reached 13% in 2014 – as a result of the financial crisis.


Total credit to the private sector increased by 1.62% in June to 1.2324 trillion euros. This figure is 0.72% lower than in June 2020.


Meanwhile, non-performing loans fell by 1.76% in June, to 54.218 billion euros, which also represents a decrease of 6.47% compared with the same month in 2020.


To deal with possible defaults, the provisions of financial institutions stood at 39,668 million euros in June, 1,427 million less than in the previous month, a decrease of 3.47%. This is the third consecutive month of decreases, after uninterrupted increases between November 2020 and March 2021. These provisions are 2.1% higher than a year ago.

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The Corner has a team of on-the-ground reporters in capital cities ranging from New York to Beijing. Their stories are edited by the teams at the Spanish magazine Consejeros (for members of companies’ boards of directors) and at the stock market news site Consenso Del Mercado (market consensus). They have worked in economics and communication for over 25 years.