If mortgage rates fell from 4.82 percent to 4.38 percent from December to January, the same downward trend is not seen for the cost of credit provided to businesses: in fact, average interest rates, which also rose in the last month by 5 basis points, have even quadrupled in two years, from 1.28 percent in January 2022 to 5.48 percent in January 2024. This is the finding, in relation to the Bank of Italy bulletin released today, by the Unimpresa Study Center, according to which the flare-up in rates has halted disbursements with the stock of bank loans to businesses plummeting by nearly €45 billion in two years. According to the Unimpresa Study Center, the stock of bank loans to businesses stood at €614.6 billion last January, down €45.9 billion from the January 2022 figure, when the total value was €660.5 billion. Total bank lending to businesses has systematically declined over the past two years: in June 2022 it stood at €669 billion, and at the end of the same year it stood at €647.4 billion: thus a decrease, in 12 months, of more than €30 billion and more than €20 billion in just six months. During 2023, the decline continued: €635.4 billion in June and €617.8 billion in December.
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