In 2008 the average cost of total fund-raising rose by 40 basis points compared with the previous year; since October it has started to fall following the reductions in official interest rates and the partial normalization of the interbank market. Loan quality is being affected by the recession.
Since the third quarter of last year the flow of new bad debts has been increasing rapidly, and in the last quarter of 2008 the ratio to total outstanding loans was the highest since 1999 (not counting the peak in the fourth quarter of 2003 due to the failure of Parmalat).