*  *  The macroeconomic environment and the credit market  Euro-area GDP continued to contract in the first quarter of 2013, with the cyclical weakness spreading across countries. Domestic demand is reflecting the impact of private and public sector deleveraging and the worsening of credit conditions. Exports declined for the second successive quarter.
Recently, there have also been some indications that the weakness in the North Atlantic economies is having an effect in the region, with growth in exports having slowed. But taking a slightly longer-term perspective, one encouraging development is that domestic demand in the region appears still to be growing reasonably strongly.