The coverage ratio reached 52.7 per cent at the end of 2018, 6 percentage points higher than the average figure for the main euro-area banks.
Net of write-downs, the ratio of NPLs to total loans fell to 4.3 per cent for the banking system as a whole, down from 9.8 per cent at the end of 2015; according to the plans  14  The Governor’s Concluding Remarks Annual Report 2018  BANCA D’ITALIA  required of all banks by supervisors, it is expected to reach around 3 per cent at the end of 2021.