12. 43 % in spain ), 36 bp above its level at end - 2023. net interest income reached 1. 62 % ( 2. 90 % in spain ), with low levels for the cost of risk, at 0. 50 % ( 1. 15 % in spain ). these developments ought to be seen against the backdrop of weak credit among banks supervised by the ssm. indeed, the amount of loans to households increased by just 0. 1 % in the last quarter and by 0. 6 % over the past year. lending to firms rose by 0. 3 % in the last quarter and remained stable over the last year. spanish significant institutions also continued to improve their profitability as the increase in net interest income offset both the growth in operating costs and credit impairments and the outlay of the bank levy. net interest income was mainly driven by the price effect as lending volumes remained somewhat subdued. on the other hand, net fee and commission income grew at an annual rate of 9. 6 %, mainly among international banks. notably, there was a 34 % increase in the bank levy, to €1, 652 million ( from €1, 236 million in 2023 ) owing to growth in the base used to calculate the levy ( net interest and fee and commission income ). naturally, domestic banks were relatively more affected. moreover, overhead costs increased above inflation ( 7. 7 % year - on - year ), driven by staff costs ( up by 10. 9 % ). these figures must be understood in the context of a european banking system that is generally traditional in nature, with loans constituting the bulk of the balance sheet ( 60. 8 % ), followed by cash and balances at central banks ( 12. 3 % ). loans are principally concentrated in lending to households ( 37. 9 % of loans ) and firms ( 34. 9 % ). in turn, spanish banks subject to ssm supervision operate with an even higher share of retail customers, who constitute a higher share of lending ( 65. 5 % of the total balance sheet ), centred around credit to households ( 48. 2 % of all loans ). by business type, global systemically important institutions account for 44 % of assets, while universal banks account for 34. 3 %. following this overview of the current context of the most significant banks in europe, let us now look back at the path trodden. over the past ten years, this road has not been easy

damage on the human, social and economic fronts. there are currently over 43 million active cases worldwide and around 1. 2 million deaths across the globe. despite hitting our economy hard, i am pleased to highlight that fiji has had no covid community transmissions for almost 200 days now. furthermore, while some countries are reimposing lockdown measures in response to the second wave of the virus, here in fiji we are blessed and privileged to be able to gather for functions like this, attend soccer and rugby matches in person with other fans as well as meet for religious functions. let us not take this for granted and we appreciate the good work done by our agencies. 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches economic updates the imf estimates the economic impact of the coronavirus to reach us $ 28 trillion by 2025. unemployment has spiked in all countries and the global economy is projected to contract by 4. 4 percent in 2020, with 90 million people falling back into extreme poverty. this is a crisis like no other and the outturn is expected to be worse than the global depression of the 1930s. unfortunately, the fijian economy has not been spared from the wrath of the pandemic. with international borders closed, tourism, the mainstay of our economy, has come to a standstill. given that tourism cuts across many sectors and accounts for 30 – 40 percent of fiji ’ s gross domestic product, the fijian economy is forecast to contract by 21. 7 percent this year – our largest contraction since the 6. 3 percent decline in 1987. we are currently reviewing our economic forecasts and it is encouraging to note some improvements in domestic economic activity since the onset of covid - related restrictions in the first quarter. mobility and consumption indicators have picked up in line with the easing of the restrictions domestically while cane, timber and some manufacturing outputs have recovered somewhat from their lows recorded in the first half of the year. in this regard, i am pleased to highlight that positive developments in the partial indicators that we monitor point towards a softening of the contraction that was projected earlier. our official forecast will be released later next month. monetary policy objectives despite losing close to a billion dollars in tourism related foreign exchange income over the past 6 months, our foreign reserves remain at comfortable levels of just above $ 2. 2 billion and sufficient to cover 8. 2 months of retained imports. rumours of a devaluation were rife on social media sometime back, and there are some who continue to speculate