Overall, the banking system is in a sufficiently good position. Last year, all the main balance sheet ratios were at satisfactory levels as a whole and in many cases they have improved. The share of non-performing loans has remained stable, at low levels and in line with the European average.
It is still the case today that, despite strong pressures on the government securities markets of some of the countries of the area, the yields on Italian ten-year securities are in line with the averages recorded in the last decade. The response of euro-area monetary policy to the global crisis of the last three years was rapid and decisive.