From a balance sheet viewpoint greater balance was brought to the ratio of lending to funding (compared to 103% in 2007) with an increase in direct funding of 8% and in lending of 3.7% (8.1% net of the large corporate component, down by more than 3 billion euro, with priority given to the Group’s traditional customers), with positive effects also on net interbank indebtedness, which fell from 4.0 billion euro to 0.9 billion euro.