Bank of Spain Governor Escrivá highlights credit cooperatives’ near 10% credit share and stronger solvency and liquidity

The Bank of Spain published a speech by Governor José Luis Escrivá that reviews Spain’s macro-financial backdrop and the strategic role of credit cooperatives, positioning them as an important channel of finance for rural areas and smaller businesses. The presentation links Spain’s stronger-than-euro-area growth performance with a strengthened banking system, pointing to historically elevated profitability and reinforced capital buffers, and it portrays credit cooperatives as comparatively well placed on asset quality, solvency and liquidity. Credit cooperatives account for 9.6% of credit in Spain and exceed 20% in several regions, reaching 36% in Navarre; their average share in lending to SMEs and the self-employed is 13.8%, rising to 28% for the self-employed. The sector is described as operating under three organisational models, and cooperative loan exposures are concentrated in mortgages (45.9%) and SMEs and the self-employed (28.4%), with the highest market shares in agriculture, forestry and fishing (35% overall, 38.4% for SMEs and the self-employed, and 47.2% for the self-employed). Metrics presented show lower non-performing loan ratios than other institutions (2.4% versus 3.0% at June 2025), similar ROA (0.96% versus 0.97%), higher CET1 (20.6% versus 13.8%), and stronger liquidity (LCR 324% versus 167% and a loan-to-deposit ratio of 70% versus 98%); the speech also flags scale-related challenges including digitalisation and meeting compliance, AML/CFT and risk-function requirements at smaller institutions, noting that regulatory simplification and proportionality could help alongside continued collaboration and consolidation.