Larger corporations have benefited from lower borrowing costs in capital markets. And small and medium-sized enterprises have seen borrowing costs from banks somewhat reduced. All of this should support investment. Target balances, which provide a powerful summary indicator of fragmentation, have declined by almost 300 billion euros or 25% from their peak.
The costs of protection against  1  See, for example, Cukierman, A., 2013, Monetary policy and institutions before, during, and after the global financial crisis, Journal of Financial Stability, in press, and Cúrdia, V. and Woodford, M., 2011, The centralbank balance sheet as an instrument of monetary policy, Journal of Monetary Economics, 58(1), 54–79.