The aftermath of the financial and sovereign debt crisis saw a slump in bank lending to non-financial corporations in the euro area, a development which spurred the Eurosystem to respond with an array of non-standard monetary policy measures. The supply of credit began to level off in mid-2013, and it has improved perceptibly since the autumn of 2014.

The survey showed that the persistently low interest rates weighed significantly on German credit institutions in all survey scenarios over a five-year period. However, given the existing surplus capital and available hidden reserves, most institutions will be able to withstand the strains caused by the low-interest-rate setting.