A Reuters report from overnight:

  • Bank lending to private euro zone businesses needs to grow at a 3 percent annual rate on a sustained basis in order to stir inflation, according a Reuters poll of economists who say that is not likely to happen.
  • In the latest monthly survey on European Central Bank policy taken Sept. 22-24, forecasters were also skeptical over whether the bank’s latest offer of hundreds of billions of cheap cash in exchange for lending will even work.
  • The consensus forecast is that banks will take up 175 billion euros at the next tender in December, which would take the total from two tenders to about 140 billion euros short of the 400 billion the ECB has put on offer.
  • That echoes views from money market traders polled earlier this week and suggests that bank lending, which has been contracting for years and at last measure fell by 1.6 percent on an annual basis, is weak because of insufficient demand, not supply.

More at the article here on the web: ECB’s plans to revive bank lending leave economists unconvinced: Reuters poll

Ryan on the ECB overnight: ECB to spend €300bn on ABS and covered bonds over 2 years – Reuters poll