Eurozone banks rush to take EUR 500 billion of cheap European Central Bank loans

Over 500 banks in the eurozone have taken almost EUR 500 billion in loans at 1 percent interest rate, offered by the European Central Bank, which was initially hoping to lend only EUR 450 billion, according to BBC News. Although yet uncertain how this will impact the eurozone, the demand was higher than expected. This was the first offer of three-year loans from then European Central Bank and the largest amount of money injected by the ECB into the market, with hopes these funds would go into the real economy and take some of the pressure off. The moves comes during turbulent times in the single currency area. Economies like Greece's and Portugal's were affected, and countries like Italy and Spain started to feel the heat too. Banks represent a sensitive area in the system, as they lent money to national Governments and also bought sovereign bonds. editor@romania-insider.com