The second problem was that many participants came to believe that working through a broker would cost them more than working directly with a lender, which is not necessarily true either. The firm tried to correct these misunderstandings, but no matter what it did to change the language, the forms continued to confuse consumers more than inform them.
Business investment is also picking up as a result of the favourable financing conditions, the need to modernise the capital stock after years of subdued investment and strengthening corporate profitability. From today’s point of view, there are signs of a stronger global recovery and a pick-up in international trade. The continued global economic upswing across regions should further support the euro area recovery.