The Bank Lending Survey was launched in 2003 and is conducted every quarter (January, April, July, and October) by the national central banks of the euro area, in collaboration with the European Central Bank (ECB). The survey is addressed to a representative sample of credit institutions from all euro area countries. Greece participates in the survey with the four systemic credit institutions.
The survey is about certain qualitative characteristics of bank lending that together with the existing quantitative data on credit aggregates provide more detailed information on the developments of the financial sector in the euro zone. The aim of the survey is to provide information on the factors that affect the conditions of the supply of loans, as well as the developments in the demand for loans.
The survey is based on a questionnaire which contains twenty two (22) multiple-choice questions, and is divided in two parts. The first part concerns loans to corporations while the second part loans to households. The questionnaire also contains an “open” question, so that credit institutions can add any other view they want to express on credit developments. Moreover, the questionnaire may contain certain additional ad-hoc questions on issues of particular importance in specific periods.
In the survey credit institutions are always asked to answer questions both on developments over the previous quarter and on their expectations for the forthcoming quarter.
The results of the Bank Lending Survey for the euro area can be found in the web page of ECB:
Bank lending survey (BLS) (europa.eu)User support address:
BLS@bankofgreece.gr.
Methodology