The improvement was due to loans to firms, for which the new bad debt rate fell by 0.6 points to 3.9 per cent. The decrease involved all sectors of economic activity. Credit quality remains poorer for construction firms and firms located in the South.
Even though it is difficult to measure productivity in the public sector, in aggregate terms it appears to be lower than in the rest of the economy and in particular in the open sector, and grows more slowly. The question of how to minimise these negative aspects of a large public sector, becomes all the more pressing with an ageing population.