Frankfurt Banks in the euro area have tightened their lending standards further. The bottom line was that internal procurement regulations were stricter in the fourth quarter than the previous quarter, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced in Frankfurt on Tuesday. Tightening affects both businesses and loans to consumers, for example to buy a house.

The ECB said that the specific terms and conditions of the loan agreements have also been tightened. Demand for corporate loans continued to decline, while demand for real estate loans increased again. The bottom line was that consumer loans, for example to buy a car, were in less demand than in the previous quarter.

The results are based on a regular survey, the “Bank Credit Survey”. In this survey, the ECB once asks banks in the euro area about their lending. He hopes that this will provide some clues to his monetary policy.

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