PARIS (Reuters) - The French central bank said on Friday it had tapped into its risk provisions to absorb a pre-tax loss of more than 12 billion euros ($13.06 billion) last year, triggered by the impact of higher interest rates.
Many central banks have been posting losses as they hiked rates over the last two years, leading to big interest payments on commercial banks' excess liquidity deposited with them.
In anticipation of such circumstances, the Bank of France has in recent years built up rainy-day provisions to cover potential losses, reaching 16.4 billion euros in 2022 before being used to offset the 2023 pre-tax loss.
The central bank said that possible losses in the coming years would also be covered by provisions and reserves. In the medium- and long-term, bond portfolio income and loans would increase and interest rate developments would help it return to profitability and rebuild reserves, the central bank said.
($1 = 0.9185 euros)