It also increases the profitability of SME lending by reducing the time and cost required to approve loans and increasing revenues by expanding lending opportunities as lenders can safely approve marginal applicants that an individual underwriter might reject.
Concerns about global imbalances continue to prevail over longer horizons, as do risks relating to protectionism. With regard to price developments, according to Eurostat’s flash estimate, annual HICP inflation was 2.4% in April 2006, compared with 2.2% in March and 2.3% in February.