In a number of euro area countries under stress, not only had interest rates for loans remained elevated, but also volumes of bank loans had contracted during the crisis.
When this contraction had been due to tighter credit standards as a result of banks’ impaired access to market funding, breaking this link should benefit the private sector, and especially the corporate sector, in these countries. In Austria, loan developments had been less worrisome, and the corporate sector has not so far suffered from credit constraints witnessed in the euro area as a whole.