But demand for credit from companies and households has also fallen for the same reasons, with that of mortgages registering its biggest drop in history, the ECB’s quarterly survey shows.
The steady rise in ECB interest rates since July is having an impact on the economy, show the conclusions of the survey which could constitute one more argument for the “doves” of the institution, supporters of moderation of monetary tightening on Thursday during the meeting of the Board of Governors.
A net 26% of banks surveyed by the ECB tightened their corporate lending standards in the fourth quarter.
They also restricted access to consumer credit and mortgages, a trend that is set to continue this quarter.
“Risks related to the economic outlook, industry or company-specific conditions and banks’ risk tolerance continued to have a tightening effect on credit standards,” the ECB said.
A total of 74% of banks reported a drop in demand for mortgages in the last quarter, with the biggest falls seen in Germany and France.
“This highlights a strong negative impact of recent interest rate hikes on demand for housing loans, coupled with a decline in consumer confidence,” the ECB added.
(Report Francesco Canepa, French version Laetitia Volga, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)