Irish banks too reliant on ECB: Fitch
According to Fitch Irish lenders took 12pc of ECB funding, compared to a 5.24pc share of the region's bank assets. Photo: Bloomberg News
Wednesday May 12 2010
Irish and Greek banks’ reliance on European Central Bank loans is out of proportion to the size of their assets, according to Fitch Ratings.
Greek banks accounted for 6.6pc of the €749bn the ECB lent to financial companies by the end of 2009, though only held 1.6pc of the euro-area’s banking assets, Fitch analysts wrote in a report.
Irish lenders took 12pc of ECB funding, compared to a 5.24pc share of the region’s bank assets.
“Greece, Ireland and, to a more limited extent, Spain and the Netherlands, have been more extensive users of ECB liquidity than in previous years,” according to the report.
The increased use of ECB facilities “could indicate a reliance on these sources for structural funding needs or as a boost to flagging profitability.”
Banks in Europe struggling under €434bn of losses and writedowns from the deepest financial crisis in decades boosted their use of ECB financing.
Lenders in the euro area borrowed the most in two months from the central bank May 9, while the amount of overnight deposits lodged at the ECB grew to €315bn, the most since July, as banks remained reluctant to lend to each other.
German banks made up the largest users of ECB loans with 25.9pc, similar to their 23.9pc share of euro-area banking assets, according to Fitch.
Spanish lenders’ proportion of ECB lending was 10.9pc, compared to an 11.1pc share of the region’s assets.
- Esteban Duarte
© Bloomberg
