We all know the damage that persistently high levels of NPLs can do to banks’ health and credit growth. Internal ECB analysis shows that, over recent years, banks with high stocks of NPLs have consistently lent less than banks with better credit quality, therefore providing less support to firms and households.
2  BIS Review 75/2007  Let me clarify this by asking two basic questions, which were also put to a large group of American workers: •  Suppose you have € in a savings account and the interest rate is 2 percent per year.