##eb, the npl ratio stood at 10. 8 %. by march it had increased to 11. 2 %. the real estate development and construction sector has the highest npl ratio ( 29 % ), while that of mortgages to individuals is contained ( 4 % ), although it is tending to rise. as a result of the major efforts made in terms of write - downs and provisioning in 2012 and the drastic decrease in real estate risk, we can affirm that our banks are able to meet the provisioning needs which may arise this year, in 2013, and also in 2014, if there are any. results in 2013 fifth, the profit and loss account. as we have indicated, in 2012 the large volume of provisioning led to heavy losses. that said, margins performed positively due to the influence of two factors : the fall in interest expenses and the efforts made by many banks to contain their operating costs. particularly strong efforts have been made by banks which have been restructured in accordance with the plans approved by the frob, the banco de espana and the european authorities, within the framework of the memorandum of understanding of july 2012. as for this year, the preliminary data for the first quarter allow us to be moderately optimistic, since an overall profit of more than €4 billion was reported. virtually all the banking groups have obtained profits. in short, as the eu institutions, the ecb and the imf have acknowledged, we are overcoming the banking crisis, although risks and uncertainties persist which mean that we certainly cannot consider the crisis resolved. that said, it needs to be reiterated that there is no better way of normalising credit flows than completing this task. bis central bankers ’ speeches regulatory changes sixth and finally, before discussing the progress made in the banking union project, i would like to refer, very briefly, to the most important changes in 2012 in financial regulation which are directly related to the handling of the banking crisis. the most significant legal change in the financial area was law 9 / 2012 of 14 november 2012 on the restructuring and resolution of credit institutions which strengthens the frob ’ s role and anticipates the future directive which will regulate these processes in europe. royal decree 1559 / 2012 subsequently regulated asset management companies and, in particular, the regime applicable to the sareb. finally, in the area of bank customer protection, mention should be made of royal decreelaw 6 / 2012 of 9 march 2012 which established various measures to protect those mortgage borrow

of the ecb has undoubtedly contributed to the cultural richness of the city and the region. since the middle ages, frankfurt has been at the crossroads of traders from all parts of the continent, and they have brought with them impulses for fine arts, music, architecture, and performing arts. the rhine - main region has meanwhile developed into an international metropolitan area. at the ecb we both contribute to and profit from this development. which of the events during the cultural days are your personal favourites? draghi : i ’ m particularly looking forward to the opening concert, and after that i will have to see what my schedule allows for. i think the secret of a successful programme is its diversity. we will offer a very special latvian mix of classical and contemporary music, theatre, film, literature, photography and a series of events for children. rimsevics : it would not be fair of me to highlight one or two events, at the expense of the others. at the same time, it ’ s clear that latvia is a centre of excellence in one particular discipline : choral music. some people even say that riga is the choir capital of the world. according to some accounts, latvia has more than 400 active choirs, and that ’ s not even including the countless school choirs. so the choir events are bound to be top of the agenda. bis central bankers ’ speeches overall, i hope that we can create something of a “ wow ” effect among the people of frankfurt and the rhine - main region, as they experience the hidden treasures of our country. we have to ask this question : does it not detract from the difficult economic and financial situation that you are organising cultural festivities, at a time when many people are suffering from the crisis? rimsevics : the latvian financial and economic crisis of 2008 - 09 is over and has been for quite some time – latvia has been the fastest growing eu economy for three consecutive years and, according to the european commission ’ s forecasts, we can look forward to another couple of years of similar performance. i would rather see all the effort that went into overcoming the difficulties as worth celebrating and these cultural days as a very good opportunity to bring latvia closer to the rest of europe, and particularly to germany. we had our own approach to solving the crisis – some agree that it was interesting and innovative. i hope that our culture – soon to be on show in frankfurt – will be fascinating and interesting in its own right. your question contains