For yet another quarter, lending activity in Spain has continued to decline, immersed in the economy’s deleveraging process. This decline, combined with the impact of the application of the new recommendations issued by the European regulators on the classification of refinanced loans, has had a negative effect on the NPA ratio. In contrast, customer funds have continued the upward trend seen in previous periods, which has enabled BBVA to continue improving the liquidity gap.
In earnings, revenue has been affected by the full impact of the elimination of the so-called floor clauses, detracting from the positive effects of lower funding costs, higher income from fees and commissions, and the increase in NTI. Another highlight in the quarter is the increase in loan-loss provisions as a result of the application of the new recommendations on refinanced loans, as mentioned earlier.