European Central Bank (ECB) Bank Lending Survey

More than 80% of companies outside the financial sector and the majority of households use bank loans for debt financing. Banks thus assume the risks associated with a loan due to the borrower's uncertainties and thus play a key role in supplying the economy with money. The ECB does not only indirectly influence this lending through key interest rates, as the banks pass on the changed costs to their clients and demand the cheaper loans more often, more expensive ones less, but also through the conditions on which the banks are allowed to grant loans.

Another factor in bank lending is a potentially increasing inequality in the maturity of deposits and loans, which, among others, could jeopardize the fulfillment of a bank's Liquidity Cover Ratio (LCR) and Structural Liquidity Ratio (NSFR) and lead to a change in lending policy. Such values are defined in Basel III (Basel III refers to rules of the Basel Committee of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) regulating banks) and apply throughout the European Union.

It is therefore essential for an economy to know how the measures of the central bank affect lending and thus economic growth. In 2003, the ECB launched the Bank Lending Survey, which has since received increasing attention. It offers an otherwise incomprehensible insight into the supply and demand of bank loans from companies and households. It has now become a key issue in the EU and in individual countries and is part of the various decision-making processes on monetary policy measures, especially in times of financial crises.

One can assume that an increase in this value or a value above expectations will stimulate the economy and the EUR.