On the counterpart side, there has been a further slight strengthening in the growth of loans to non-financial corporations, which rose to 1.0% in April, after 0.8% in March. The growth of loans to households was 3.4% in April, unchanged from the previous month. The latest data confirm a continued gradual strengthening in the annual growth of lending to the nonfinancial private sector. The overall size of bank balance sheets has remained broadly unchanged over the past few months, notwithstanding some volatility. It is important that banks continue to expand the provision of credit to the private sector in an environment of increasing demand. To address this challenge, where necessary, it is essential for banks to retain earnings, to turn to the market to strengthen further their capital bases or to take full advantage of government support measures for recapitalisation. In particular, banks that currently have limited access to market financing urgently need to increase their capital and their efficiency. To sum up, based on its regular economic and monetary analyses, the Governing Council decided to keep the key ECB interest rates unchanged. The information that has become available since our meeting on 5 May 2011 confirms continued upward pressure on overall inflation, mainly owing to energy and commodity prices. A cross-check of the outcome of the economic analysis with that of the monetary analysis indicates that the underlying pace of monetary expansion is gradually recovering. Monetary liquidity remains ample, with the potential to accommodate price pressures in the euro area.

Looking ahead, inflation rates are likely to stay clearly above 2% over the coming months. Upward pressure on inflation, mainly from energy and commodity prices, is also discernible in the earlier stages of the production process. It remains of paramount importance that the rise in HICP inflation does not translate into second-round effects in price and wage-setting behaviour and lead to broad-based inflationary pressures. Inflation expectations must remain firmly anchored in line with the Governing Council’s aim of maintaining inflation rates below, but close to, 2% over the medium term. The June 2011 Eurosystem staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area foresee annual HICP inflation in a range between 2.5% and 2.7% for 2011 and between 1.1% and 2.3% for 2012. In comparison with the March 2011 ECB staff macroeconomic projections, the range for HICP inflation in 2011 has been revised upwards, largely reflecting higher energy prices. The projection range for 2012 has narrowed somewhat. It is appropriate to recall that the staff projections are conditional on a number of purely technical assumptions, including oil prices, interest rates and exchange rates. In particular, it is assumed that oil prices will decline somewhat and that short-term interest rates will rise, in accordance with market expectations. Overall the projections embody the view that the recent high rates of inflation do not lead to broader-based inflationary pressure in the euro area. Risks to the medium-term outlook for price developments remain on the upside. They relate, in particular, to higher than assumed increases in energy prices.