Brussels, 21/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - The Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, believes that there is potential to put an end, in 2016, to the question of non-performing loans still owned by the banks of his country.
“In 2016, we need to put an end to the problem of non-performing loans” in Italy, Renzi said on Friday 18 March, after the meeting of the European Council. He called for solutions which are “compatible with the European rules and reassuring to savers”.
In January, the Italian authorities and the European Commission negotiated an agreement which complies with the European competition rules and allows Italian banks to rid their balance sheets of non-performing loans, by transferring them to stand-alone ad hoc entities (see EUROPE 11477).
Calling for a reduction of the number of bankers in Italy, Renzi noted that when the economy recovers, the volume of non-performing bank loans falls. Having stood at €89 billion in 2015, these non-performing loans had fallen to €83 billion in January of this year, he said.
The Italian Prime Minister also announced that the European Social Democrat family was to present proposals by the summer to “kickstart the economy”. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)