MILAN, March 14 (Reuters) - Deposits with Italian banks
shrunk by 39.7 billion euros ($42.6 billion) in February as the
country's businesses kept reducing the excess funds they had
precautionary stashed with lenders up until mid-2022, national
banking lobby ABI said.
Corporate deposits in Italy rose by 130 billion euros
between December 2019 and July 2022 as companies tapped
emergency liquidity schemes provided by the government to face
first the COVID-19 pandemic and then the energy crisis.
ABI did not provide any details on the reasons behind the
reduction in corporate deposits. Top banking executives have
told Reuters that higher interest rates have prompted corporate
clients to move cash out of current accounts to seek higher
returns.
As the government phased out emergency schemes and banks
tightened lending terms, companies battling higher operating
costs may have also decided to use their liquidity to fund
working capital needs.
The ABI data showed corporate lending stagnated in February.
The average cost of new loans rose to 3.90% from 3.72% the
month before to the highest level since Jan. 2012.
($1 = 0.9324 euros)
(Reporting by Valentina Za and Stefano Bernabei; editing by
Alvise Armellini)
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