French troops in two armored personnel carriers drive through Mali's capital Bamako on the road to Mopti Tuesday Jan. 15, 2013. French forces led an all-night aerial bombing campaign Tuesday to wrest control of a small Malian town from armed Islamist extremists who seized the area, including its strategic military camp. A a convoy of 40 to 50 trucks carrying French troops crossed into Mali from Ivory Coast as France prepares for a possible land assault. Several thousand soldiers from the nations neighboring Mali are also expected to begin arriving in coming days. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Spanish banks' bad loan ratio at record 11.38 pct
Published: 10:47:01 AM, Fri 18 January 2013 UTC
MADRID (AP) — Spain's central bank says the level of bad debt in the country's banks rose to a new record 11.38 percent in November, up from 11.23 percent in October.
In data released Friday, the bank said non-performing loans totaled €191.63 billion ($256.17 billion) in November, up by €2.01 billion from the previous month.
It was the 17th monthly increase in a row.
With 25 percent unemployment, Spain is battling to emerge from its second recession in just over three years.
Many banks were badly hit by the country's property market collapse in 2008. Spain last month received €40 billion from a €100 billion credit line earmarked for its troubled banks by the other 16 European Union countries that use the euro.
Tags:
european central bank, european union, banks, spain, united kingdom, percent, row, friday, country, credit line, debt, business, europe, madrid, recession, euro, eurozone, european union countries, troubled banks, bad loan ratio, property market collapse, percent unemployment, bad debt, spanish banks, pct, new record, 17th monthly increase, non-performing loans
