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Global Business: The Italian Banking Crisis

In Business: The Italian Banking Crisis

03/12/2016 GMT

The Italian Banking Crisis

BBC World Service - Global Business, The Italian Banking Crisis

Why are Italy's banks in crisis, and what is the impact on business?

Why are Italy's banks in crisis, and what is the impact on business? In the first of a new series, Ruth Sunderland seeks solutions in a country battered by years of recession.

Why are Italy's banks in crisis and what's the impact on business? The country's banks have huge numbers of non-performing loans, the result of nearly a decade of recession. The economy has shrunk by nearly 10% in that time. Some small banks have already failed, others may follow. What has it been like to do business through these very lean times? Are banks continuing to lend? And what solutions might there be for one of Europe's biggest players? Ruth Sunderland visits small businesses, the backbone of the Italian economy, and asks what is required to strengthen the banking system. 

Producer : Rosamund Jones.

(Image: Woman at a protest against the collapse of four Italian banks in central Rome on December 22, 2015. Credit: TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images)

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