Loans by Italian banks to businesses continued to fall in February, at a stable pace compared with the previous month, Bank of Italy data showed on Wednesday.

Bank credit to businesses declined 3.8% year-on-year, the central bank said, following a 3.9% drop in January.

Deposits stood at 2.39 trillion euros ($2.59 trillion), the same level as in January.

Italian residents' deposits with domestic banks fell 1.2% year-on-year after a 2.0% decline in January, the data showed.

Banks increased their bond issuance, the data also showed, with sales up 18.0% yearly in February from a 21.0% rise the previous month. ($1 = 0.9211 euros) (Reporting by Sara Rossi, editing by Gavin Jones)