Spanish banks raise the requirement to grant credit to companies in the final stretch of the year

Spanish banks hope to tighten award criteria of loans to companies in the final stretch of 2025, which may lead to a stagnation of financing for the group. This is one of the main conclusions that emerge from the Bank Loan Survey corresponding to the third quarter prepared by the Bank of Spain (BdE). The expectations regarding the final stretch of the year come after the rebound experienced in the summer in which the demand for credit both from this segment and from individuals has increased.

The eldest volume of reorganization and restructuring operationsas well as lower interest rates explain the greater appetite during the summer period. According to BdE data, Spanish companies have financed in August -latest data available- new operations at 3.25%. Without taking into account the August figure, in which the rate was reduced to 3.18%, this is its lowest level since November 2022, when the European Central Bank (ECB) the cycle of increases had just started. The question is whether, in this context of frozen reference rates and greater demands, banks will take advantage of this to increase their cost.

In volume, the granting of credit has increased by more than 7% taking into account only July and August, in which it has gone from 63,649 million to 68,653 million. On the whole, the outstanding balancewhich measures the volume allocated for this purpose in assets, stands at 945,358 million, 0.7% more year-on-year, although it has decreased 0.67% since the peak in July, when he posted his record in a year and a half.

The expectations regarding business financing At the national level they contrast with those perceived in the eurozone. The entities of the region of the single currency they anticipate that between now and the remainder of 2025 Demand for credit to non-financial corporations will continue from October to December after it tightened in the summer. However, yes expect higher requirements for SMEs and large companies, above all, in the long term, since in short-term financing no changes are anticipated.

“The risks perceived by the specific situation of each industry, as well as the threats detected for the economic outlook, contributed to a tightening of credit standards, with the current high level of geopolitical uncertainty as reasons to discriminate between sectors or companies when granting new loans,” they explain in the document collected by the ECB.

In this sense, several banks have responded that the geopolitical circumstances and the possible effects of trade disruptions have been taken into account. account when evaluating credit risk. Overall, banks have rejected more applications in all categories, with a special impact on consumption, while banks have intensified observation and monitoring. analysis before opening the tap to corporations. The Frankfurt-based organization carries out this survey four times a year with the aim of obtaining more knowledge from the Eurosystem about the conditions of bank loans. On this occasion, the survey was carried out between September 19 and October 7 among 154 banks in the euro region.