per cent insurance savings products and pension fund units ; in germany and france the percentages are 13 and 9 respectively for investment fund units, and 46 and 38 for insurance savings and pension funds. the protection of savings the wide range of instruments available and the numerous financial operators allow savers to make the choices best suited to their needs, to plan for the future, and to deal with unforeseen events. this is a victory that must be defended and extended. however, it can make decisions more complex, and increase counterparty, market and liquidity risks, which are often interrelated. the main criterion to be followed for proper investment management remains that of diversification. savers should demand that this principle be followed, even when they rely on third - party advice. two broad categories of public policy contribute to safeguarding savings : that designed to guarantee the stability of the financial system and that aimed at protecting savers as consumers of financial services. this is a much more complex matter than it was in postwar italy, when it was written into our constitution ; it requires the contribution of many different actors, including savers themselves. economic policies that can foster growth are essential for the protection of savings. the value of financial assets derives from that of real assets : a company ’ s share and bond prices rise or fall according to its state of health. an economy that does not grow cannot generate the resources necessary to recompense the capital invested in companies, to bear the burden of public debt or to enable households to repay their debts. weak economic growth has even more serious effects on financial wealth if there is also a surfeit of debt in some sectors. the recent financial crisis provides dramatic examples of how serious these risks are. in italy it is precisely the combination of structurally low growth and high public debt that has exacerbated the problems of the banking sector. a crucial safeguard for financial wealth is price stability. several times in italy ’ s history, long periods of high inflation have led to unfair reallocations of wealth, above all to the detriment of small savers who are less able to guard against the erosion of the value of money. the return to monetary stability, following a loss of purchasing power of almost 90 per cent between 1973 and 1995, dates back just over twenty years. most recently, the greatest threats have come from the risk of deflation. the fall in prices increases the real value of debts, propelling the economy towards recession and eventually undermining

to improve. in the second quarter of this year the flow of new non - performing loans fell to 2 per cent of total lending, a level consistent with the average observed in the years prior to the global financial crisis. the stock of non - performing loans is also decreasing rapidly : net of write - downs, in june it had fallen to €150 billion, equal to 8. 4 per cent of total loans, from the peak of €200 billion, or around 11 per cent of total loans, reached in 2015. the ratio of bad debts to total loans has declined from 4. 8 to 3. 9 per cent. over the next few months, disposals and securitizations already under way and those recently announced by a number of banks will further drive down the stock of npls, which, net of existing write - downs, should fall below 8 per cent of total loans in the early months of 2018. banks ’ balance sheets need to be further bolstered to make them better able to withstand, now and going forward, the risks still weighing on the economic outlook. banks are responding to this also by referring to the ecb ’ s ‘ guidance to banks on non - performing loans ’ issued in march 2017. the measures to reduce the burden of non - performing assets announced last july during the european council are a step in the right direction. this is also the aim of the introduction, which should be gradual and properly calibrated, of a calendar approach to write - downs for future non - performing loans. the reforms passed in italy in recent years have shortened the duration of credit recovery proceedings ; there is room for further action. the recent passage of the enabling law laying the ground for a comprehensive reform of legislation on corporate crises and insolvency proceedings will provide a major contribution to this. the principles and criteria set out in the enabling law must be implemented and translated into rules that can truly speed up credit recovery times, preserving as much as possible the value of companies that are still in sound condition. banks must make full use of the tools that have recently become available in the domain of out - of - court settlements with firms for the restructuring of debts and the transfer of assets. moreover, having suitable and timely data on npls is indispensable for more effective internal management and to facilitate their sale on the market at adequate values. despite the improvement observed following the survey we launched last year, banks still need to make progress in this area too. the