The foundations are non-profit operators themselves and can actively contribute to the non-profit sector’s development by identifying areas for intervention and nurturing socially useful initiatives. In deciding how to go about pursuing their objectives, the foundations can adopt a directly operational setup and manage one or more socially useful activities themselves, under arrangements already adopted elsewhere and not new to Italy.
As also indicated in the bank lending survey, the demand for credit remained subdued in the first quarter of 2012, reflecting weak economic activity and the ongoing process of balance sheet adjustment in non-financial sectors. The full supportive impact of the Eurosystem’s non-standard measures will need time to unfold and to have a positive effect on the growth of loans when demand recovers.