European banks held near €300bn of state-backed loans in Q3

The amount of European bank loans backed by state guarantees increased 56% over the three months to end-September, pushing the total amount that governments may be on the hook for to €288.5 billion ($350.9 billion).

Data from the European Banking Authority (EBA) shows that French, Italian and Spanish lenders saw public guarantee scheme (PGS) loans pile up the most across the European Economic Area (EEA), with French banks alone accounting for €115.4 billion of the Q3 total. Italian banks