Spain Loans, Deposits Fall at Record Pace Ahead of Cleanup
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Loans and deposits at Spanish lenders fell at their fastest pace on record in November and defaults jumped as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy prepared measures forcing banks to recognize more real-estate losses.
Lending fell by 2.94 percent from a year ago and deposits slid 2.99 percent, the biggest drop since the regulator’s records started half a century ago, the Bank of Spain said on its website today. Bad loans as a proportion of total lending climbed to 7.51 percent in November, the highest level since 1994, from 7.42 percent in October and 5.69 percent a year earlier, the regulator said.