2. Structure and dynamics of the national Italian banking system. The
banking system of Italy is small: at the end of 2015 the ratio of assets to GDP of the
country was 165%, compared with 229% in Germany, 340% in Spain and 280% in
France (see Table 1). The ratios of deposits to GDP and loans to households to GDP
point to similar conclusions. The low ratio of bank deposits to GDP is due to the
propensity of the population to hold deposits in government bonds and shares of private
corporations, as well as the popularity of deposits in post offices, which is not common
in other EU countries, where post offices have been privatized and converted into
banks.
Table 1 Size of bank balance sheets in the large euro-area countries
(as percent of GDP, 2015)
The indicator
Germany
Spain
France
Italy
Total assests
229%
340%
280%
165%
Loans to households
0,57
0,83
0,52
0,38
of them: mortgage loans
0,39
0,63
0,40
0,23
Consumer credit
0,07
0,08
0,08
0,04
Other loans
0,36
0,86
0,43
0,57
Loans to firms
0,36
0,86
0,43
0,57
Deposits
0,79
0,93
0,76
0,48
Source: based on [3]
Analyzing the structure of consolidated balance sheets of banks, it is worth
noting that they clearly reflect the low degree of financialisation of the economy and
specialization in the field of corporate lending. The underdeveloped stock market and
corporate bond market have always set the industry dependent on bank loans. Less than
300 companies are listed on the stock exchange, compared with 760 in Germany and
630 in France. In addition, Italy is a country of small firms with an average of only 3
employees per each. Owners of the company make limited capital contributions and,
therefore, Italy has one of the lowest own funds in the company's overall liabilities, and
because of this, external financing is necessary [4]. Loans to firms account for 57% of
GDP, compared with 43% in France and 36% in Germany; Only Spain, another country
with a banking-focused financial system, has a higher ratio of 86%.
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