federal reserve and other global central banks to the funding costs and liquidity of globally active euro area banks, potentially further amplifying the bank lending channel through global tightening. [ 33 ] second, while the resilience of the euro area economy may have limited the severity of the credit supply channel by boosting the incomes of firms and households, a downturn or reversal of these factors would amplify the current slowdown in credit. in particular, as the cumulative tightening in monetary policy gains further traction, the countervailing impact of these factors will plausibly decline, with fading profits or a slowdown in household incomes amplifying the impact of the credit channel. conclusions the banking channel is likely to further strengthen in the coming months. the typical lags in monetary transmission mean that the full economic impact of the considerable monetary tightening over the last year will only play out over the next couple of years. in relation to the banking channel, transmission will continue to strengthen with the ongoing repricing of bank funding, while the repricing of maturing fixed - rate loans will place further upward pressure on aggregate lending rates. the decline in liquidity due to the further repayment of tltro funds and the shrinking of the app portfolio will further strengthen transmission via the banking channel in the coming months. furthermore, any deterioration in the macroeconomic environment would also reinforce the banking channel by reducing loan demand and increasing credit risks. non - linear amplification effects could materialise in the event that financial stress emerges either in the euro area or abroad. looking ahead, we will continue to monitor the strength of the banking channel through a range of indicators that draw on both hard and soft information. as part of our broad assessment of the banking channel, we examine a wide array of indicators on lending conditions, through information on bank balance sheets, the evolution of lending and deposit rates and survey - based measures. our assessment is driven both by incoming data, but also broader modelling of bank lending conditions to create a forwardlooking assessment. we combine macro - level data examining aggregate euro area credit developments and micro - level data that allows for variation across banks and different sectors of lending. the bls plays a key role in our analysis, since it allows us to separate the demand and supply components of credit developments. the april bls indicated that the net percentage of banks that further tightened their credit standards on loans to firms in the first quarter was 27 per cent, while the net percentage of banks reporting

##ully and successfully in so many “ battlefields ”. wim was not only a great central banker. he was not only a great president of the european central bank, making history in launching the single currency. he was a great friend, a great european friend. the dutch writer cees nooteboom says in “ the question of brussels ” : “ how to become a european? in starting by being one, a quality that we can acquire, for instance, in being born in the netherlands. the same result could be obtained, according to some, in sicily, in east prussia, in lapponia or in wales, but being myself a european of the dutch kind, i prefer to stick to this particular kind of european ( … ). in fact if i am a european, it probably means that the european wealth of different cultures influences my dutch specificity ”. wim was a great european, fully open to our common cultural wealth. fluent in english, german and french, as well as dutch of course, he was a man of culture, a man of great intellectual and moral elegance. among his many friends, his extreme kindness, his wit, his humour, his smile were legendary. his openness to others and his simplicity were always appreciated by all, particularly by the staff of the ecb. he gave a lot to colleagues and friends only out of the goodness of his heart. gretta, i am particularly fond of one memory of wim, an event which i must relate because it says so much about him. the two of you were in aachen when wim was to receive the charlemagne prize. there was he, that tall fellow with his magnificent mop of hair and there were you, a picture of supreme elegance. but you had a problem walking on the cobblestone streets of aachen – so wim gave you his shoes, carried yours and walked in his socks through the streets with his prize around his neck. simplicity, imagination, humour and great kindness are the best words to define our dear friend wim, who will be with us, with all of us, forever, as chateaubriand said, “ not defeated, only invisible ”. i would like to give the last word to wim himself. at his farewell celebration on 22 october 2003 he said : “ all in all, i had the privilege of being part of history. being responsible for the introduction of a new currency is the dream of any central banker, i believe. a