spanish banks They still drag their feet with the price they pay term deposits of private customers. After increasing average type The rate of these savings products increased from 0.72% for those signed last December to 2.21% for those signed in June. Summer his salary actually remained frozen (2.332% in July, 2.308% in August and 2.326% in September). Thus, the Spanish sector the most backward of europe in these payments made to its customers. On average, assets eurozone It raised the average rate on new deposits to 2.7% in June from 1.47% in December. 3.08% in September.
Therefore, the difference between what European banks pay on average for new deposits and what Spanish institutions pay is sixth of 20 member countries of the monetary union they pay them less. The difference was: 0.16 points percentage points in December 2021 (when the European Central Bank starts tightening monetary policy), 0.264 points in July 2022 (when the ECB first increases official interest rates), and 0.75 points last September. As a result, the average rate deposit balance proportion of households (not just new operations) Spain 1.5 percentwhile in Eurozone reached 2.07%According to data published this Thursday by the Bank of Spain and the ECB.
Traditionally, the difference between the amounts paid for new deposits in Spain and the monetary union It wasn’t that bulky.. Since statistics began in 2003, the difference has normally been as follows: a few decimals even hundreds. In fact, there were times when Spanish banks paid more More than Europeans between 2004 and 2006 (to finance the real estate bubble) or between 2007 and 2011 and in 2012 (due to the major banking crisis). But the difference was shot As Spanish organizations have taken advantage of them in recent months plenty of liquidity and low demand for credit (which causes them to need less external financing) and little increase in deposit returns and results provide even more benefits is due to the increase in credit costs.
Break a profit record
Like this monthly bill inside interest payment The number of houses increased rapidly 1.158 million From EUR 1.343 million from December 2021 2.501 million since last September. Just the opposite, interest collected Expenditures by families due to deposits and current accounts increased slightly 212 millionfrom 14 226 million. This means that organizations’ monthly margin increased by 946 million and 71% to 2,275 million.
An important element to explain this is 89.4% of the money spent by households What is recorded in assets is now in existing accountsbarely of average interest 0.131%. However, in previous interest rate hike cycles, savings evenly distributed between these accounts and deposits representing 50% to 60% of what families hold in banks. That is, even if term deposit interest rates are increased, organizations pay a lot of money There is less interest from households compared to similar events in the past. In August, deposit balance increased by 5 billion 889 million, account balance decreased by 5 billion 212 million, but the difference is still very large (103.797 million and 882.113 millionrespectively).
Mortgage costs
Banks often defend the low return on their deposits compared to the euro area average with the following argument: mortgages They are also in Spain “cheaper” than in Europe. It is true if you compare it to its type. 10-year Treasury bond, the reference to the cost of financing the Spanish economy and the reference used by banks to provide long-term loans. But it’s also true that the average man mortgage balance In Spain it was lower than in the Eurozone in December 2021 (1.099% compared to 1.63%) and is now much higher (3.495% – 2.35%)Due to the greater relative weight of variable interest loans in the country. For new mortgages, the Spanish rate was only slightly lower than the European rate in September (3.85% versus 3.93%).
In addition, institutions do not reflect the increase in reference interest rates only on deposit interest rates. slower than credits and their equivalents Europeanbut they also do so “below observed levels of translation.” previous cycles “Tightening monetary policy, as emphasized a few days ago” Governor of the Bank of Spain, Pablo Hernández de Cos. All this helps explain why Spanish banks have been making announcements in recent days profit figures approaching or exceeding them all time highs. The six Ibex 35 institutions (Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank, Sabadell, Bankinter and Unicaja Banco) together earned 19 billion 761 million euros, up 23.4% between January and September.