Given the importance of the bank finance for the non-financial sector, the ECB undertook specific measures targeted at covered bond market, which is an important source of liquidity for banks. To ensure adequate depth and liquidity at secondary markets for government securities and increase the investors’ confidence in 2010 Securities Market Program and later on in 2012 Outright Monetary Transactions were implemented. To support the lending to the private sector a credit easing package was introduced in 2014. To address the risk of prolonged period of low inflation, at the beginning of 2015 the Expanded Asset Purchase Program was adopted. 3 Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia. 2  region. In this analysis we will focus on the financial channel, i.e., on the extent to which eased financial conditions due to the ECB’s unprecedented monetary stimulus has affected the financial conditions in the region. First, we will tackle the question on the synchronization between the changes in ECB rate and policy rates in the region, and subsequently the transmission to banks’ lending rate as an indicator for the financing conditions of the private sector. In this context we will also touch upon the issue of the spread between foreign and domestic interest rates as an important factor that influences the room for monetary policy maneuver of the central banks in the region, especially for economies with some form of managed exchange rate regime.
But, it should be stressed that throughout survey vintages, a rebalancing of the 4  CESEE Bank Lending Survey, European Investment Bank. sources of financing was visible. Given the deleveraging of the international banks present in the region, the intra-group financing which was receding was substituted with local funding. Easy access to retail and corporate deposits was reported as a feature in the second half of 2015, and the first half of 2016 as well. Chart 4: Average annual credit growth Annual credit growth in %  70  average 2005-2008  60  average 2009-2012  average 2013-2016  50 40 30 20  10 0 -10  SLO  SRB  ROM  POL  MKD  LIT  LAT  HUN  EST  CZR  CRO  BUL  BIH  ALB  -20  Source: Central Banks’ internet pages. In light of the rising importance of local funding as a source of financing for the banking systems in the region, and hence as a basis for further credit revival, one important aspect is the impact of low interest rates on the savings in the banking system. The dynamic observance of the deposits rates in the banking system of the region reveals a large downward adjustment of the yield on deposits, both for corporates and for households.