For banks, broader portfolio effects might entail a shift out of government bonds – or other fixed-income instruments – and into loan creation. This essentially works through banks’ opportunity cost of lending. Our analysis shows that sovereign spreads in some Member States are still preventing lending rates from falling further.
cent in the United States (in July), twice the level recorded in the euro area (in the second quarter).1 As it turns out, in the United States there are two job openings for each unemployed person, while in the euro area two unemployed persons compete for less than one opening.