Kerry, W., Portier, J., Ruggerone, L. & Verkoren, C. (2014) “What a Drag: The Burden of Nonperforming Loans on Credit in the Euro Area“, iMFdirect, 23 June.
High and rising levels of nonperforming loans in the euro area have burdened bank balance sheets and acted as a drag on bank profits. Banks, striving to maintain provisions to cover bad loans, have had fewer earnings to build-up their capital buffers. This combination of weak profits and a decline in the quality of bank assets, resulting in tighter lending standards, has created challenging conditions when it comes to new lending.
We took a closer look at this relationship and the policies to help fix the problem in our latest Global Financial Stability Report because credit is the grease that helps the economy function.
The stock of nonperforming loans has doubled since the start of 2009 and now stands at more than €800 billion for the euro area as whole (see chart). Around 60 percent of these nonperforming loans stem from the corporate loan book.
Relevant posts:
- Wren-Lewis, S. (2014) “Central bank advice on austerity“, Mainly Macro Blog, 05 May.
- Eurobank (2014) “What Explains the Rise in Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) in the Euro Area following the Outbreak of the Global Financial Crisis: Greece Case Study“, Eurobank Global Markets Research, Greece Macro-Monitor, 14 February.
- Greene, M. (2014) “The Eurozone’s Imperfect Banking Union“, Open Markets, 20 February.