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MONETARY POLICY AND THE PRODUCTIVE ECONOMY IN THE EUROZONE
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However, the results of this apparent target-
ing effort are more than limited.
Let us see, firstly, the results of the analysis
that the ECB itself conducted in July 2015,
based on the changes reported on the balance
sheets of the banks receiving funds from the
TLTRO Programme (
Chart 9
).
As we can see, it seems clear that in the case
of the TLTRO too, the success in the allocation
of these funds to bank lending is very limited.
Surprisingly, despite the objectives explicitly
defined by the Programme, the banks receiving
funds are apparently quite unashamed when it
comes to declaring that they have not allocated
the funds received to boosting lending, but to
other purposes (
Chart 10
). This is also demon-
strated by the aforementioned
“Euro area bank
lending survey”
, the periodical survey of the
Eurozone’s main banks.
As we can gather from the chart, even in this
“targeted” programme the group of banks that
replied that the resources tapped contribute ei-
ther “considerably” or “somewhat” account for
only 41 % to 64 % of the total recipient banks.
The question is how it is possible that around
half of the banks can say that these resources
have not contributed at all to an increase in
lending.
The answer lies in the fact that the “target-
ing” that the programme appears to boast is
only limited:
– The banks can finance themselves through
the programme for two years without fulfill-
ing any requirement about the purpose of
the funds.
– Only the banks that want to keep the funds
beyond 29/09/2016 are obliged to observe
the “targeting” requirements.
– ��� �������������� ����� ��� ���� ���������� ����
In approximately half of the resources pro-
vided so far –200 billion euros out of a total
of 400 billion– the only requirement lies in
increasing the balance of net lending, with-
out demanding a specific amount of in-
crease.
This being the case, it is hardly surprising
that the TLTRO Programme has been a fresh fail-
Chart 9.
Changes in the balance sheets of banks participating in the TLTROs
Source:
ECB.