Towards a balanced contribution of household credit to the economy. CEPS-ECRI Task Force Report, May 2015

While policy-makers are creating conditions to strengthen recovery, the debate on the role that retail finance should play in this respect focuses on corporate loans rather than on household credit. The improvement of financing conditions for firms in order to support further investment spending is certainly essential to ensuring sustainable growth. However, a significant part of EU growth will depend on the behaviour of households and on their ability to secure funding for their consumption and investment. It is therefore essential to place further emphasis on the different options available to stimulate household credit, in particular consumer loans. Nevertheless, in order to avoid past mistakes, regulators should continue to develop a framework where consumer loans (and by extension household credit) contributes to the economy in a balanced way. To achieve this, five main issues need to be addressed further.

Where is the credit crunch in Greece? CEPS Commentary, 6 October 2015

Greek policy-makers like to make the point that their economy cannot recover because of a lack of credit and that this affects exports, in particular. Austerity is an easy explanation for the weakness of domestic demand, argues Daniel Gros in this CEPS Commentary, but it is more difficult to see why Greek exports have stagnated in recent years. The author considers the argument that the Greek economy could not recover via export-led growth because of a credit crunch. The overall availability of credit was higher than GDP, and interest rates remained relatively low. There is some indication of a misallocation of bank credit, but the responsibility for any mistakes in this direction must lie squarely with the government and the Troika, given that the Greek banking system has been under government control since 2012.

A Convergence Process in Household Credit in Central and Eastern Europe. ECRI Commentary No. 16, 30 October 2015

The liberalisation of Eastern Europe’s market during the 1990s and the 2004 EU enlargement have had a great impact on the economies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Indeed, prior to these events, the financial system and household credit markets in CEE were underdeveloped. Nonetheless, it appeared to numerous economists that the development of the CEE financial system and credit markets was following an intensely positive trend, raising the question of sustainability. Many variables impact the level and growth rate of credit; several economists point out that a convergence process might be one of the most important. Using a descriptive statistics approach, it seems likely that a convergence process began during the 1990s, when the CEE countries opened their economies. However, it also seems that the main driver of this household credit convergence process is the GDP per capita convergence process. Indeed, credit to households and GDP per capita have followed broadly similar tendencies over the last 20 years and it has been shown in the literature that they appear to influence each other. The consistency of this potential convergence process is also confirmed by the breakdown of household credit by type and maturity. There is a tendency towards similar household credit markets in Europe. However, it seems that this potential convergence process was slowed down by the financial crisis. Fortunately, the crisis also stabilised the share of loans in foreign currency in CEE countries. This might add more stability to credit markets in Eastern Europe.

Central America aid : status of the Trade Credit Insurance Program : fact sheet for the Honorable Patrick Leahy, U.S. Senate /

"B-221422"--1st. prelim. p.

Small farmer credit in Mexico and Central America.

PB 224 025

Credit for marginal groups; a study of the principal private sector credit institutions providing loans to marginal groups in the countries of the Dominican Republic, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, and Guatemala.

"Sponsored by: Pan American Development Foundation, in cooperation with: CUNA International, Inc. [and others]"

Small farmer credit in Colombia.

PB 224 029

Small farmer credit in Costa Rica.

Cover title.

Small farmer credit in Ecuador.

PB 224 028.

The Cash discount act : the Fair credit practices act : hearing before the Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs of the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, second session, on H.R. 6928 ... H.R. 7038 ... April 23, 1980.

Mode of access: Internet.

Meeting the credit needs of minority communities : hearing before the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy of the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, second session, May 29, 1980.

"Serial no. 96-65."

Amending the Export-import bank act of 1945 with respect to credit to Communist countries : hearings before the Subcommittee on International Trade, Investment, and Monetary Policy of the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, first session, on H.R. 1908 ... July 23 and 24, 1979.

"Serial no. 96-24."

The Farm credit act of 1937.

Mode of access: Internet.

Effects of lender decisions on farm financial planning : some solutions to problems arising from credit limitations set by commercial lenders /

Cover title.