This is particularly true in bank-based economies, where capital markets are less developed. •  Eliminating the fragmentation of financial markets will loosen tight credit standards in the member states of the periphery, allowing banks to finance investment.
Financing corporate investment is currently of outmost importance for economic growth both in the euro area as a whole and in the periphery countries, which have suffered particularly from deep and prolonged recessions. Remarkably, private investment in the euro area has declined from 20% of GDP in 2008 to 16% of GDP in 2013.