For the time being, the diversity of intermediaries, methodologies that are still too varied, and difficulties in comparing results make it impracticable to publish the individual results of the stress tests under way at European level. I believe, however, that this objective cannot be deferred for long without delaying the necessary return of banks to the private capital market.
The worsening macroeconomic outlook in Italy and the consequent increase in credit risk were again reflected in a credit tightening. In 2012 and in 2013, the number of firms defaulting on loans increased substantially: in the second quarter of 2013 the ratio of new bad debts to outstanding business loans reached 4.7 per cent, 1.5 percentage points higher than a year earlier.