27 October 2025

• Firms reported a small net tightening in bank loan interest rates as well as in other loan conditions related to both price and non-price factors.
• Financing needs, bank loan availability and the financing gap were broadly unchanged.
• Inflation expectations remained unchanged across horizons, with firms continuing to report upside risks to their long-term inflation outlook, broadly unchanged compared with the previous round.

In the most recent round of the Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises (SAFE), covering the third quarter of 2025, euro area firms reported a slight net increase in interest rates on bank loans (a net 2%, compared with -14% in the previous quarter). This increase was primarily reported by small and medium-sized enterprises, while a net 3% of large firms reported a decline in interest rates. At the same time, a net 23% of firms (up from 16% in the previous quarter) observed increases both in other financing costs (i.e. charges, fees and…