The debt of Spanish banks with the ECB falls 0.2% in February and remains at its lowest since 2007

MADRID, 14 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The debt of Spanish banks with the European Central Bank (ECB), which reflects the gross appeal of the entities to the issuing institution through regular financing operations, decreased by 0.2% in February compared to January, reaching at 22,587 million euros, according to data published this Thursday by the Bank of Spain.

Compared to February 2023, the reduction is 80.9%, which represents 95,915 million euros less. In this way, the debt of the Spanish banks with the ECB remains at its lowest level since September 2007, when it reached a total of 20,992 million euros.

It is important to note that at the end of June, European banks, including Spanish banks, had to face the return of part of the liquidity they still had from what the ECB offered in 2020 at more advantageous conditions within the TLTRO-III auction program. .

In this way, the debt with the ECB of the entire eurozone sector stood at 401,974 million euros, 0.3% less than in January, equivalent to 1,157 million euros less. The drop compared to February 2023 is 67.8%. Furthermore, it has fallen to its lowest levels since February 2006, when the debt was 398,317 million euros.

Thus, the appeal of banks resident in Spain to the issuing institute represented 5.6% of the Eurosystem's total in December, unchanged compared to January and below the 9.5% registered in February 2023.

On the other hand, the aggregate volume of assets acquired in Spain within the framework of the different asset purchase programs implemented since 2009 by the ECB amounted to 599,625 million euros in February, 0.9% less than in January and 3. 3% less than in February 2023.

In the Eurosystem as a whole, the aggregate amount of asset purchases stood at a total of 4,652 trillion euros in the second month of 2024, 0.6% less than in January and 5.9% less compared to February 2024.

On the other hand, the volume that Spanish banks have in permanent facilities has fallen by 8%, to 220,916 million euros, where they can benefit from the increase in rates applied by the European Central Bank (ECB) to deposits.