Spanish Bad Loans Surge, Riksbank Slashes Repo Rate

Arthi Gupta
18 Dec, 2012
New York City

Spanish banks'' bad loans ratio reached record levels and Italian current account deficit narrowed in October. Swedish central bank cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points.

[R]1:30 PM Frankfurt – Spanish banks'' bad loans ratio reached record levels and Italian current account deficit narrowed in October. Swedish central bank cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points.[/R]

Spanish Banks’ Bad Loans Ratio Soars

Spanish banks'' bad loans ratio increased to 11.23% in October from 10.71% in September, the Bank of Spain data showed. The total value of doubtful loans rose to €189.62 billion in October from €182.23 billion in September.

Riksbank Slashes Repo Rate

Sweden''s central bank cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 1% to support the Swedish economy so that inflation rises towards the target of 2%.

The central bank is of the view that the weak developments in the euro area are clearly affecting the Swedish economy.

The bank also estimates the gross domestic product to expand 1.2% in 2013 from the previously projected 1.8% and GDP growth in 2012 is estimated at 0.9%.

Italian Current Account Deficit Narrows

Italy''s current account deficit narrowed to €245 million in October from €2.32 billion in the same month last year, data released by the Bank of Italy showed.

Hungary Gross Earnings Rise

Hungarian average gross nominal earnings including premiums and one-month bonus grew 4.5% in October compared to the same period of the previous year, the Central Statistics Office said.

Annually, average gross earnings increased 7.3% in the private sector.

In non-profit institutions, average gross earnings grew 8.3% to HUF 201,000.