standards for consumer credit. By contrast, for loans to households for house purchase, banks’
risk perceptions continued to have a slight net tightening impact on credit standards (3%, from
2%). For the first quarter of 2015, euro area banks expect a further net easing of credit standards
for loans to enterprises (-5%) and for consumer credit and other lending to households (-6%), as
well as a marginal net easing for housing loans (-1%).
Rising net loan demand (i.e. the difference between the sum of the percentages of banks
reporting an increase and that of banks reporting a decline in demand) continued to be reported
for the fourth quarter of 2014, in particular for loans to non-financial corporations (to 18%, from
6% in the previous quarter – see Table A) and for consumer credit (to 15%, from 10% in the
previous quarter). At the same time, the reported increase in net demand for housing loans
stabilised at elevated levels (24%, after 23% in the previous quarter). For loans to enterprises,
financing needs related to fixed investment in particular (11%, from -6%) contributed to the
increase in net loan demand in the fourth quarter of 2014, recording the first significantly
positive contribution since mid-2011. Other financing needs likewise continued to contribute to
the positive net loan demand (11%, from 13% in the previous quarter). These reflected in
particular the demand for debt restructuring and the financing needs for mergers and
acquisitions, as well as for inventories and working capital. Looking ahead, banks expect an
increase in demand in net terms across loan categories for the first quarter of 2015.
Cross-country disparities in lending supply conditions continued to decline in the fourth quarter
of 2014 for loans to enterprises, while partially increasing for loans to households. Among the
largest euro area countries, credit standards on loans to enterprises were eased in net terms
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