Looking ahead, the economy is likely to continue its moderate expansion. Some of the recent characteristics of the economic expansion are as follows. The first feature is that the economic growth has been led by both external and domestic demand in a well-balanced manner.
Analyses carried out by ECB staff5 suggest a rather limited contribution of credit supply conditions to euro area economic activity between 2007 and the first quarter of 2008. By the fourth quarter of 2008, however, the impact of credit supply conditions appears sizeable.