France, German banks lent most to Greek borrowers-BIS

LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) - French and German banks lent most to Greek borrowers and were owed $120 billion as worries about its economy started sweeping through financial markets, according to bank lending data released on Tuesday.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said Greek borrowers owed $236 billion to overseas lenders at the end of 2009, with half owed to creditors in two countries -- $75 billion in France and $45 billion in Germany.

Greece has been battered in recent months as financial markets have doubted its ability to service its debts, despite the offer of an EU/IMF bailout. Spain and Portugal have also been hit by worries that problems will spread across the euro zone, increasing their borrowing costs.

Germany and France were also the biggest lenders to corporates in Spain and Portugal, according to BIS, the coordinating body for the world's central banks.

The statistics -- the only ones to chart cross-border lending around the world -- showed German banks had $238 billion in outstanding loans in Spain and $47 billion in Portugal.

French lenders had $220 billion outstanding in Spain and $45 billion in Portugal. Only Spanish lenders were owed more from Portugal, totalling $86 billion.

Spain's once booming property market attracted investment from German banks in particular, but a collapse in house prices pushed the country into a deep recession. [ID:nLDE638122]

Loans from Germany and France accounted for 40 percent of the loans to Spain and a third of those to Portugal.

French banks are active in Greece, with Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA) owning Greek bank Emporiki CBGr.AT, Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) controlling Geniki (GHBr.AT) and BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) is also present there. [ID:nLDE6380JO]

Lenders from the United States, Britain and the Netherlands were also significant creditors in Greece, owed $17 billion, $15 billion and $12 billion respectively at the end of 2009.

The data were contained in a quarterly report showing that international bank lending fell by almost $2 trillion, or 6 percent, during 2009 as the financial crisis continued to restrain credit through to the end of the year. [ID:nLDE63K26X] (Reporting by Steve Slater, editing by Mike Peacock)