Please answer the given financial question based on the context.
Context: 18 . allowance for credit losses .
|in millions of dollars|2009|2008 ( 1 )|2007 ( 1 )|
|allowance for loan losses at beginning of year|$ 29616|$ 16117|$ 8940|
|gross credit losses|-32784 ( 32784 )|-20760 ( 20760 )|-11864 ( 11864 )|
|gross recoveries|2043|1749|1938|
|net credit ( losses ) recoveries ( ncls )|$ -30741 ( 30741 )|$ -19011 ( 19011 )|$ -9926 ( 9926 )|
|ncls|$ 30741|$ 19011|$ 9926|
|net reserve builds ( releases )|5741|11297|6550|
|net specific reserve builds ( releases )|2278|3366|356|
|total provision for credit losses|$ 38760|$ 33674|$ 16832|
|other net ( 2 )|-1602 ( 1602 )|-1164 ( 1164 )|271|
|allowance for loan losses at end of year|$ 36033|$ 29616|$ 16117|
|allowance for credit losses on unfunded lending commitments at beginning of year ( 3 )|$ 887|$ 1250|$ 1100|
|provision for unfunded lending commitments|244|-363 ( 363 )|150|
|allowance for credit losses on unfunded lending commitments at end of year ( 3 )|$ 1157|$ 887|$ 1250|
|total allowance for loans leases and unfunded lending commitments|$ 37190|$ 30503|$ 17367|
( 1 ) reclassified to conform to the current period 2019s presentation . ( 2 ) 2009 primarily includes reductions to the loan loss reserve of approximately $ 543 million related to securitizations , approximately $ 402 million related to the sale or transfers to held-for-sale of u.s . real estate lending loans , and $ 562 million related to the transfer of the u.k . cards portfolio to held-for-sale . 2008 primarily includes reductions to the loan loss reserve of approximately $ 800 million related to fx translation , $ 102 million related to securitizations , $ 244 million for the sale of the german retail banking operation , $ 156 million for the sale of citicapital , partially offset by additions of $ 106 million related to the cuscatl e1n and bank of overseas chinese acquisitions . 2007 primarily includes reductions to the loan loss reserve of $ 475 million related to securitizations and transfers to loans held-for-sale , and reductions of $ 83 million related to the transfer of the u.k . citifinancial portfolio to held-for-sale , offset by additions of $ 610 million related to the acquisitions of egg , nikko cordial , grupo cuscatl e1n and grupo financiero uno . ( 3 ) represents additional credit loss reserves for unfunded corporate lending commitments and letters of credit recorded in other liabilities on the consolidated balance sheet. .
Question: what was the percentage change in the allowance for loan losses from 2008 to 2009?


Answer: The answer is:0.83756