what was the percentage change in the allowance for loan losses from 2008 to 2009?
18 . allowance for credit losses .

| In millions of dollars | 2009 | 2008(1) | 2007(1) |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Allowance for loan losses at beginning of year | $29,616 | $16,117 | $8,940 |
| Gross credit losses | (32,784) | (20,760) | (11,864) |
| Gross recoveries | 2,043 | 1,749 | 1,938 |
| Net credit (losses) recoveries (NCLs) | $(30,741) | $(19,011) | $(9,926) |
| NCLs | $30,741 | $19,011 | $9,926 |
| Net reserve builds (releases) | 5,741 | 11,297 | 6,550 |
| Net specific reserve builds (releases) | 2,278 | 3,366 | 356 |
| Total provision for credit losses | $38,760 | $33,674 | $16,832 |
| Other, net(2) | (1,602) | (1,164) | 271 |
| Allowance for loan losses at end of year | $36,033 | $29,616 | $16,117 |
| Allowance for credit losses on unfunded lending commitments at beginning of year(3) | $887 | $1,250 | $1,100 |
| Provision for unfunded lending commitments | 244 | (363) | 150 |
| Allowance for credit losses on unfunded lending commitments at end of year(3) | $1,157 | $887 | $1,250 |
| Total allowance for loans, leases, and unfunded lending commitments | $37,190 | $30,503 | $17,367 |

( 1 ) reclassified to conform to the current period 2019s presentation . ( 2 ) 2009 primarily includes reductions to the loan loss reserve of approximately $ 543 million related to securitizations , approximately $ 402 million related to the sale or transfers to held-for-sale of u.s . real estate lending loans , and $ 562 million related to the transfer of the u.k . cards portfolio to held-for-sale . 2008 primarily includes reductions to the loan loss reserve of approximately $ 800 million related to fx translation , $ 102 million related to securitizations , $ 244 million for the sale of the german retail banking operation , $ 156 million for the sale of citicapital , partially offset by additions of $ 106 million related to the cuscatl e1n and bank of overseas chinese acquisitions . 2007 primarily includes reductions to the loan loss reserve of $ 475 million related to securitizations and transfers to loans held-for-sale , and reductions of $ 83 million related to the transfer of the u.k . citifinancial portfolio to held-for-sale , offset by additions of $ 610 million related to the acquisitions of egg , nikko cordial , grupo cuscatl e1n and grupo financiero uno . ( 3 ) represents additional credit loss reserves for unfunded corporate lending commitments and letters of credit recorded in other liabilities on the consolidated balance sheet. .

allowance_2009 = 29616
allowance_2008 = 16117
change = allowance_2009 - allowance_2008
percent_change = change / allowance_2008
answer = percent_change * 100