EU banks bad loans worth about 1 trillion euros-IMF

(ANSA) - New York, September 24- European banks' bad loans have increased to about 1 trillion euros, more than double their level in 2009, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday.
    The IMF said levels of non-performing loans (NPLs) in the euro area had risen to 932 billion euros at the end of 2014, or about 9 percent of the region's gross domestic product (GDP).
    High levels of NPLs are limiting credit supply and holding up funds that could otherwise be used for lending.
    "The levels are particularly high in the south of the euro area," the IMF said.
    It added that a reduction of bad loans was crucial to help revive credit supply, above all for small and medium-sized companies that are more reliant on banks for financing.