Results of the April 2008 bank lending survey for the euro area

The European Central Bank (ECB) is today publishing its report on the results of the April 2008 bank lending survey for the euro area. The bank lending survey has been developed by the Eurosystem in order to enhance the understanding of bank lending behaviour in the euro area. The results include for the first time responding banks from Cyprus and Malta. In addition, the German and Italian samples have been enlarged, which can be expected to improve the overall picture of bank lending in the euro area. Such changes lead to an increase of the total euro area sample from 89 banks to 113 banks.

The survey is conducted four times a year, usually at the beginning of each quarter. The survey also included a set of ad-hoc questions which aim to gauge the extent to which the financial market tensions experienced since the second half of 2007 have affected banks’ credit standards for loans and credit lines to enterprises and loans to households in the euro area. The cut-off date for the receipt of data from banks participating in this survey was 8 April 2008.

The report is available on the ECB’s website in the “Statistics” section under “Money, banking and financial markets”/“Bank lending survey”.