Italian Bad Loans Surge 26% YoY To Record High (59th Month In A Row)

Welcome to the recovery. For the 59th month in a row, the stock of bad loans across Italian banks rose (up ~26% YoY). At EUR 164 billion, this is a new record high and remains the biggest problem for Italian banks (non-performing loans now make up a reord 8.6% of total lending) as they suggest in their reports that profitability is improving. If that was not enough to have you piling cash into the heart of Europe’s periphery, then the 22nd month of declines in loans to the private sector should do it. Despite a pick up in mortgage loans, private credit creation tumbled 3.1% YoY in April… not exactly the quasi-Keynesian dream that record low rates would suggest as transmission mechanisms remain entirely plugged.

Bad loans are up 26% YoY to a new record EUR 165 billion…