The decisive policy response allowed firms to draw down their credit lines in order to finance their working capital, leading to an unprecedented increase in bank lending in the spring of 2020.
Chart 2 Loan guarantees and remaining envelopes relative to sovereign debt in 2020 in selected euro area countries Percentages of GDP and percentages of outstanding sovereign debt  https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2021/html/ecb.sp210128~8f5dc86601.en.html  2/13  29/01/2021  The sovereign-bank-corporate nexus – virtuous or vicious? Sources: National authorities and ECB calculations.