Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Housing
The banks have to take off the weight of the brick
Spanish banks still need to drop real estate ballast. Despite the fact that in 2018 they sold close to 90,000 million euros in foreclosed assets and doubtful loans, the record to date, the brick continues to pose a high risk to their balance sheet.
The Bank of Spain estimates that they still have 72,000 million euros in real estate and loans, while the credit rating agency Standard & Poor's raises the figure to 80,000 million, being one of the highest stocks in Europe.
This amount translates into 7% of the balance of the domestic financial sector, a percentage that practically doubles that registered before the crisis. Specifically, S & P argues that Spanish banks should divest themselves of another 30,000 million euros, leaving the brick risk below 4%, something that could happen during the next two years.