By Nikos Kotsikopoulos
The market saw the first increase in interest rates of the European Central Bank by 0.25 percentage points and the progress of the eurobor quarter shows that it does not wait for the ECB meeting on 11 June to learn the decisions. He's starting to invoice.
In particular, the eurobor quarter since the previous ECB meeting on 30 June has already reached a level of 2.20% (in fact 2.199%). The market has invoiced by 4/5 the first increase, which is already going to the cost of money and is starting to operate restrictively, although even at very mild levels.
The lowest point of the euribor quarter in April was 2.075% on the 1st of the month, while the highest was on 14 April at 2.243. Then, in the second fortnight of the month, he never retreated below 2.15%, remaining realistic compared to what the ECB data showed.
In her interview, ECB President Christine Lagarde gave some evidence of the purchases and costs of money. For example, the average cost of issuing bonds on the market increased to 3.9% in March, from 3.5% in February. This is a sign that the cost of money has increased. Companies issuing bonds to borrow pay higher interest rates, as do banks.
Bank interest rates on loans did not change significantly in February, but the time lag of these figures does not help to get a valid picture for March and April. However, there is already a slightly more moderate attitude to funding across Europe.
Thus, the criteria for granting loans to companies were tightened in the first quarter of this year, according to the ECB's latest survey on loans to the Eurozone. This tightening was due to the fact that banks were more concerned about the financial risks faced by their customers.
Demand for loans to companies declined slightly in the first quarter, in particular for fixed investments. This is also a clear indication of market self-regulation. It's a sign of a first little tightening in anticipation of interest rate increases.
As the market does not expect major interest rate increases, all moves are still very numbered. But in fact, European banks began to calculate more risk, as they have "filled" their portfolios with loans.
The average of the deposit-to-loans ratio in the Eurozone exceeds 100%. In December 2025 it was already at 100.49%, with (3) systemic banks in Finland having broken all records, having given loans 70.54% more than the total amount of their deposits.
Therefore, some banks, mainly from northern countries, have already taken a greater risk (Estonia with an index of 114%, Germany 112%, the Netherlands 109.54%), so it is normal for the criteria for granting loans to be made more stringent.
Please note that Greek systemic banks have one of the lowest loan-to-deposit ratios, measured in December 2025 at 62.55%. The Greek banks are in development phase and the credit expansion was based on loans from the TAA, in which interest rates are essentially half.
Therefore, the burden on businesses and households is lower and this gives significant safety characteristics. However, the first very small increases still in floating interest rates are already a fact.
