Free Trial

ECB Says APP Facilitates Easing of Credit Terms and Conditions

By Christian Vits
     FRANKFURT (MNI) - The European Central Bank's asset purchase program
continues to have a positive impact on financing conditions of banks in the
currency bloc, though it is depressing profits, the bank reported in its latest
bank lending survey.
     "Banks continued to report a positive impact on their liquidity position
and market financing conditions over the past six months, but a negative impact
on their net interest margins," the ECB said Tuesday. 
     Responding banks indicated that they had mainly used the additional
liquidity related to the APP to grant loans. According to the report, the net
easing impact of the APP continued to be stronger for terms and conditions than
for credit standards.
     The ECB's negative deposit facility rate, while having an adverse impact on
banks' net interest income, is assessed by banks to have had a positive impact
on their lending volumes, the ECB said.
     "Competitive pressure, banks' risk perceptions, and cost of funds and
balance sheet constraints had an easing impact on credit standards on loans to
enterprises, while banks' risk tolerance had a tightening impact," the ECB
outlined. Overall, credit standards for loans to enterprises remained broadly
unchanged.
     Credit standards on loans to households for house purchases eased further
and stronger than expectations expressed in the previous survey round, while
those on consumer credit and other lending to households eased "in line with
expectations", the ECB said.
     For the fourth quarter of 2017, banks expect credit standards on loans to
enterprises to remain unchanged, while they anticipate a net easing for housing
loans (-3 percent) and consumer credit (-2 percent), according to the ECB.
     Net demand continued to rise across all loan categories. "The increase in
fixed investment and the general level of interest rates were important factors
boosting demand for loans to enterprises in the third quarter of 2017," the ECB
noted.
--MNI Frankfurt Bureau; +49 69 97782671; email: christian.vits@marketnews.com

To read the full story

Close

Why MNI

MNI is the leading provider

of intelligence and analysis on the Global Fixed Income, Foreign Exchange and Energy markets. We use an innovative combination of real-time analysis, deep fundamental research and journalism to provide unique and actionable insights for traders and investors. Our "All signal, no noise" approach drives an intelligence service that is succinct and timely, which is highly regarded by our time constrained client base.

Our Head Office is in London with offices in Chicago, Washington and Beijing, as well as an on the ground presence in other major financial centres across the world.
}); window.REBELMOUSE_ACTIVE_TASKS_QUEUE.push(function(){ window.dataLayer.push({ 'event' : 'logedout', 'loggedOut' : 'loggedOut' }); });