This study examines empirically the information content of the euro area Bank Lending Survey for aggregate credit and output growth. The responses of the lending survey, especially those related to loans to enterprises, are a significant leading indicator for euro area bank credit and real GDP...

Empirical results for the euro area show that an important channel through which monetary policy – measured traditionally by the short-term interest rate as well as by the Eurosystem balance sheet total – affects economic growth is the confidence of borrowers as well as of lenders. Impulse...