The European Central Bank once again offered cheap three-year loans to banks in the euro region, which quickly soaked up 529.5 billion euros ($712.2 billion) in funding. Analysts had expected the amount to total 470 billion euros.
Bloomberg reported Wednesday that 800 financial institutions availed themselves of the cheap money, and the sheer number of banks involved spurred hopes that this time at least some of it would find its way to the smaller businesses that rely on credit to keep functioning.
Much of the last round of cheap loans, offered by the ECB in December, ended up back on overnight deposits with the ECB as banks took advantage of the money to boost their balance sheets but did not loan it out.
