Credit squeeze toward Italian households slows in April

(ANSA) - Rome, May 18 - A continuing decline in loans toward Italian households in April slowed its downward spiral, the Italian banks' association ABI said on Monday.
    ABI billed the continuing credit squeeze as the "best result" since May 2012. The issuing of credit toward households fell 0.8% last month compared to April 2014, whereas credit sank 1% in March compared to twelve months prior.
    At its nadir, in November 2013, total loans shrank by 4.5% compared to the previous November.
    The return of growth in loans made by Italian banks could come "in the next few months" given data on new loans issued in the first quarter, which confirm and consolidate the first signals of recovery seen at the end of last year, explained ABI Deputy General Director Gianfranco Torriero. "The positive signs on (credit) flows are seen especially in the mortgage sector, and now for businesses, thanks to a recovery in aggregated demand and in exports," Torriero said. Torriero added that medium and long term loans were penalized by medium and long term collections - in other words, through bonds, which fell 14% in April, marking a 69.6 billion euro decrease in absolute value year on year. Meanwhile, deposits increased by 41.6 billion euros in April compared to the same month last year, a rise of 3.4%.
    March 2015 saw deposits rise 3.5% compared to March 2014.