MILAN (Reuters) – The pace of growth in Italian bank lending to businesses slowed further in October, falling to its new lowest level since Feb. 2020, data showed on Friday.
A monthly Bank of Italy report on the balance sheets of domestic banks showed loans to non-financial companies were up 0.6% year-on-year in October, slightly down from an 0.7% rise in September.
Friday’s data also showed Italian residents’ deposits with domestic banks increased to 2.79 trillion euros ($3.15 trillion)in October from 2.75 trillion euros in September.
Gross unpaid loans were up to 46.14 billion euros at the end of October from 44.69 billion euros a month earlier.
(Graphic for Italian Banks Lending: https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/mopanqyjbva/uId6h-italian-banks-lending-to-non-financial-companies-br-%20(10).png)
($1 = 0.8863 euros)
(Reporting by Sara Rossi, editing by Giulia Segreti)