Los bancos españoles, los terceros de Europa con más deuda soberana

Español banks are now the third most exposed among major European Union countries to sovereign debt, according to data from rating agency DBRS. Only Portugal and Italy have a higher exposure. The crisis in France has reignited concerns about the interconnection between banks and sovereign debt. Spanish banks, particularly Santander, BBVA, and Sabadell, have been aggressively purchasing government bonds over the past four years, with their balance sheets now heavily laden with sovereign debt.

While Spain is not currently in the spotlight like France, banks have been buying government bonds during the past four years, and their balance sheets are now saturated with government bonds. This fear was previously overcome, but it resurfaced due to the storm in France. Since 2022, the European Central Bank (ECB) has been raising interest rates, reviving interest in sovereign bonds.

However, despite the ECB's rate hikes, sovereign bonds have regained appeal. DBRS does not believe the banking sector is at risk, citing high yields on European sovereign debt, declining deficits in some countries, rising borrowing costs for nations, and increased bank commitments as factors. The traditional link between banks and sovereign issuers has become less direct as European entities are less concentrated in their own countries.

However, the ECB's stricter supervision framework has mitigated previous episodes of tension. DBRS expects the impact on European banks to be manageable, given the high proportion of discounted sovereign debt, improved profitability generation, and stronger balance sheets. Other analysts share the cautious view, warning that problems in France could spread to Italy, which also faces public debt weaknesses and has a higher proportion of sovereign debt exposure.

While Spanish banks have diversified their sovereign debt holdings more in recent years, many still concentrate their exposure within Europe, where sovereign bonds are considered risk-free and fully counted towards liquidity ratios. Spanish banks lead the pack, with Santander holding 75.9 billion euros in Spanish sovereign debt, accounting for 46% of its total portfolio, complemented by 20 billion euros in other European countries and 8.25 billion euros in Openbank Europa.

CaixaBank's holdings are nearly evenly distributed, with 38.8 billion euros in Spain and 33.265 billion euros in other EU countries. BBVA and Sabadell favor Italy, with the former holding nearly 9 billion euros in Italian sovereign bonds and the latter possessing 5.3 billion euros. BBVA also has 33.4 billion euros in Spanish bonds, while Sabadell has 20 billion euros in Spanish bonds.

The four largest banks collectively hold 167.8 billion euros in Spanish sovereign debt, and their overall exposure to Europe amounts to nearly 260 billion euros.