The $1.2 Trillion Question Hanging Over Banks in Europe

A $1.2 trillion liquidity crunch looms for Europe’s lenders, testing their ability to stand on their own after more than a decade of easy money from the European Central Bank. 

The biggest hurdle will come in late June, when banks will have to pay back about 478 billion euros, equivalent to some $525 billion, of ultracheap loans to the central bank. Those loans were handed out at the height of the pandemic to ensure banks kept lending as lockdowns brought business to a halt.