Premise: it is a delicate subject, because the social stigma is around the corner. And the terms are accurate. Over-indebtedness, first, and usury, then, are frightening phenomena that families and businesses find it hard to reveal. Not only that, given that many of the lawyers contacted by La Stampa have played down the problem. However, the monitoring of the authorities, as in the case of the Bank of Italy, is constant. And the North-West quadrant, made up of Piedmont, Liguria and Valle d’Aosta, starts from a worse position than the rest of the country. The Crif data can be an important yardstick for understanding the dynamics underway and future development, also as a consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In 2021, the average debt in Piedmont was € 33,293. 21.8% refers to mortgages, 32.2% to personal loans and 46.1% to targeted loans, as in the case of businesses. In Liguria, debt is higher: € 35,153, of which 23.6% in mortgages, 30.6% in personal loans and 45.8% in special-purpose loans. The situation in Valle d’Aosta is in line, with the average amount of debt being € 30,497: 19.6% for mortgages, 30.5% for personal loans and 49.9% for special purpose loans. All this against an average national debt of 32,264 euros, for a 42.7% of the population with active credits. The segmentation of the northwestern macro-region sees Valle d’Aosta with 46.1%, Piedmont at 45.9% and Liguria at 45.3. Well over 50% three provinces in particular: Turin, Novara and La Spezia. Conversely, virtuosity for Cuneo, close to 36 percent.
What must worry is the continuation of debt situations. As often pointed out by the economists of the Bank of Italy, the monitoring of the percentages of economic subjects with a debt that lasts for more than three months is constant. Because in such a delicate historical and economic phase, the risk is that people with debts can leave the traditional channels of credit and turn to organized crime.
There are not even few initiatives to combat usury and mitigate over-indebtedness. As explained by Luciana Malatesta, managing director of La Scialuppa Crt, in 2020, from March until the end of the year, 356 overindebted families between Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta turned to La Scialuppa. In 2021 up to 30/9/21 368 families have turned up. “The subjects – says Malatesta – who turned to La Scialuppa Crt during 2020, usually the weakest, decreased during the pandemic and certainly not because they decreased in absolute value, indeed, but because the loss, the confusion, the uncertainty, accompanied by government measures for the postponement of dismissals, evictions, tax bills, moratoriums on loans and the allocation for redundancy payments, even if insufficient, have in fact “anesthetized” the population that has “suspended” the concern of the payment of debts of any origin and replaced it with that of health risk. Since March 2021 there has been a slight increase in requests for help, which slowed down again in the summer period ». The extra costs in the bill and the conflict in Ukraine, however, are crucial to create the conditions for a proliferation of usury.
It is no coincidence that the administrative counterparts have also moved, as demonstrated by the anti-usury protocols signed by the three north-western regions between 2020 and 2021; they involve the social partners, prefectures, banking institutions. From this point of view, two figures are crucial. On the one hand, the “facilitator” at the trade associations and Confidi, with the task of disseminating the prevention and solidarity tools made available by the legislation. On the other hand, the “contact person”, identified by each member bank with the task of following the credit lines. Figures that will be decisive in the coming years: the tightening of the monetary policy of the central banks could come to worsen the situation, getting closer and closer.