What is disappointing from my point of view is the small degree of integration achieved so far in the retail banking segment. The share of euro area cross-border MFI loans granted to non-MFI’s has risen from 2% of total loans in 1997 to 3.5% at present, which is still a very low level.
The cross-country standard deviation of MFI interest rates on consumer credits has been fluctuating between 80 and 100 base points in recent years, and the corresponding figure for house purchase credits has varied between 40 and 60 base points.