The January 2019 Bank Lending Survey in Spain

In 2018 Q4, according to the Bank Lending Survey (BLS), credit standards for consumer credit and other lending to households tightened slightly both in Spain and in the euro area. There were no appreciable changes in the other two lending segments. For the current quarter, Spanish banks anticipated a slight tightening in all lending segments, a development also observable in the euro area – albeit to a lesser degree – in practically all segments. The overall terms and conditions on new loans eased across the board, both in Spain and, more moderately, in the euro area as a whole. In Spain, the demand for credit fell both in loans to enterprises and loans to households for house purchase, and it ceased to grow in consumer credit and other lending to households; in the euro area as a whole, meantime, loan applications grew across the board. Conditions of access to wholesale funding markets worsened, both in Spain and in the euro area, whereas in retail markets the changes were minor and of a different sign. According to the banks surveyed, regulatory and supervisory measures in respect of capital, leverage and liquidity did not exert an appreciable impact on the supply of credit in Spain in the second half of 2018, whereas in the euro area they prompted some tightening. Finally, the NPL ratio did not exert any influence on Spanish banks’ lending policy in the second half of 2018, while in the euro area they contributed to some tightening in the supply of credit in all segments.