El proceso de desapalancamiento de las sociedades no financieras españolas en el período 2007-2024
Series: Occasional Papers. 2619.
Author: Daniel Dejuan-Bitria
Spain
- Non-financial corporations, businesses
- Transmission of monetary policy
- Central Balance Sheet Data Office
Full document
Abstract
Rationale
Corporate leverage among Spanish non-financial corporations declined markedly between 2007 and 2024. This adjustment exhibits substantial heterogeneity across firms. By identifying, for each firm, its peak leverage level and the subsequent trough in its time series, the analysis characterises this heterogeneity by examining both the intensity of the adjustment and the change in other firm characteristics between these two points.
Takeaways
- Median leverage falls from 47% to 7% of assets between the peak and subsequent trough, over three years.
- The adjustment is accompanied by higher liquidity and greater profitability.
- The decline in leverage is larger among smaller and younger firms, and firms with higher credit risk at the peak.
- The documented deleveraging process is consistent with both credit supply constraints and proactive deleveraging decisions aimed at preserving financial flexibility.