Credit and loans, rates still rising

The cost of credit in Italy it recorded a slight increase in the month of April, although it remained significantly lower than the levels of the end of 2023. According to what was found by theItalian Banking Association (Abi) in its latest monthly report, the average rate on new transactions for the purchase of homes stood at 3.43%, highlighting a growth of 6 cents compared to the previous month, compared to the 4.42% recorded in December 2023.

The upward trend affects the entire food sector jobs. The average rate on total loans rose to 4.02% (+3 cents on the month), while the average rate on new lending operations business financing it reached 3.62%, with an increase of 24 cents compared to the previous month (the figure was 5.45% in December 2023).

Loan dynamics and credit quality

Despite the rise in interest rates, the demand for financing it doesn’t stop. In April, the amount of loans to businesses and families grew by 2.7% on an annual basis, remaining in line with the change in the previous month and consolidating the expansion phase started in March 2025. For the family sector, this is the sixteenth consecutive month of increase, while for businesses it is the tenth consecutive month of growth. By way of comparison, in March loans to households increased by 2.7%, while loans to businesses increased by 2.8%.

Improving credit quality

In parallel with the growth in disbursements, there is an improvement in credit quality. In March i net impaired loans – understood as the set of bad loans, unlikely to pay and past due and/or overdrawn exposures calculated net of devaluations and provisions already made by the banks – fell to 26.9 billion euros, compared to 27.7 billion in December 2025 and 31.3 billion in December 2024.

The current figure highlights a contraction of over 169 billion euros compared to the maximum peak of 196.3 billion reached in 2015.Abi highlights that in March net impaired loans represented 1.28% of total loans. The ratio is down from 1.32% in December 2025, 1.51% in December 2024 and 9.8% in December 2015.

Bank funding and deposit returns

On the front of bank collectionthe April data show an increase in overall direct funding (deposits from resident customers and bonds) equal to 2.9% on an annual basis, continuing the positive trend recorded since the beginning of 2024 (+2.6% in the previous month). In detail, i deposits they grew by 2.7% on an annual basis (+2.5% in March), while medium and long-term funding through bonds marked an increase of 4.1% compared to the previous year (+3.5% the previous month).

The indirect collectioni.e. investments in securities held at credit institutions, recorded a growth of 98.8 billion euros between March 2025 and March 2026. Of these, 42.8 billion are attributable to families, 16.5 billion to businesses and the remaining share to other sectors (financial companies, insurance companies and public administration).

Returns on time deposits

As regards the returns paid to customers, in April the rate applied on new ones fixed term deposits (certificates of deposit and time deposits) stood at 2.16%, up compared to 2.13% in the previous month and higher than the euro area average, which in March was 1.92%. The increase compared to June 2022 — the last month before the start of the monetary tightening by the Bcewhen the rate was 0.29% — is 187 basis points.

The yield on new issues of bank bonds fixed rate in April was 2.73%.

Rates on deposits and current accounts

The remunerations of the most liquid forms of collection remain stable: the average rate on total deposits (including certificates of deposit, savings and current accounts) remained unchanged at 0.65% compared to March 2026 (it was 0.32% in June 2022). Likewise, the rate on current accounts it was confirmed at 0.29%, unchanged on the month and higher than the 0.02% of June 2022.

Given this framework, the margin (spread) on new transactions with families and non-financial companies – calculated as the difference between the rates on new loans and new funding – stood at 209 basis points in April.