Italy, Greece owes most to French banks: BIS data

ZURICH: French banks were the biggest lenders to Greece and Italy at the end of June, with about half of Italian debt owed to French lenders, BIS data showed Wednesday.

Greece owed $55.74 billion and Italy $416.37 billion to French banks, figures which were up slightly from the previous quarter, according to the data from the Bank of International Settlements.

German banks, meanwhile, reduced their exposure to Italy and Greece. At the end of June, they were owed $21.3 billion by the Greeks, down from $23.7 billion during the previous quarter.

Italy meanwhile owed German banks $161.76 billion, a little less than the $164.93 billion in the previous three months.

However, the Germans were among the biggest lenders to France, with an exposure of $223.29 billion. They were only outdone by British banks, which loaned $305.26 billion to France.