october, up from 0. 1 % in september. despite these improvements, developments in loans to enterprises continue to reflect the lagged relationship with the business cycle, credit risk and the ongoing adjustment of financial and bis central bankers ’ speeches non - financial sector balance sheets. the annual growth rate of loans to households ( adjusted for loan sales and securitisation ) increased to 1. 2 % in october, compared with 1. 1 % in september. overall, the monetary policy measures in place since june 2014 have clearly improved borrowing conditions for both firms and households and credit flows across the euro area. to sum up, a cross - check of the outcome of the economic analysis with the signals coming from the monetary analysis confirmed the need for further monetary stimulus in order to secure a return of inflation rates towards levels that are below, but close to, 2 %. monetary policy is focused on maintaining price stability over the medium term and its accommodative stance supports economic activity. however, in order to reap the full benefits from our monetary policy measures, other policy areas must contribute decisively. given continued high structural unemployment and low potential output growth in the euro area, the ongoing cyclical recovery should be supported by effective structural policies. in particular, actions to improve the business environment, including the provision of an adequate public infrastructure, are vital to increase productive investment, boost job creation and raise productivity. the swift and effective implementation of structural reforms, in an environment of accommodative monetary policy, will not only lead to higher sustainable economic growth in the euro area but will also raise expectations of permanently higher incomes and accelerate the beneficial effects of reforms, thereby making the euro area more resilient to global shocks. fiscal policies should support the economic recovery, while remaining in compliance with the fiscal rules of the european union. full and consistent implementation of the stability and growth pact is crucial for confidence in our fiscal framework. at the same time, all countries should strive for a more growth - friendly composition of fiscal policies. we are now at your disposal for questions. bis central bankers ’ speeches

particularly hard hit. risk premia for both long - term and short - term government bonds of some member states reached unusually high levels. in july 2012, the yield on spanish government bonds with a two - year maturity was 6. 6 % at times ; for italian ones it was 5. 1 %. some of these spreads reflected the economic fundamentals of the respective member states. however, the rapid rise in spreads in the first half of 2012 was also an expression of the fear, an unfounded one, that the euro area could break up. model calculations – with all their uncertainties and weaknesses both inside and outside the ecb – show that spreads for two - year spanish and italian government bonds that cannot be explained by fundamentals were up to 2 percentage points in july 2012. the prices of government bonds affect the pricing of other securities, such as bank or corporate bonds – key variables in the functioning of monetary policy. disruptions on the bis central bankers ’ speeches government bond market therefore also have an impact on the effectiveness of our monetary policy. in summer 2012, our monetary policy signals were reaching some euro area countries in only a limited way. sometimes they did not even reach the real economy. our key interest rate had lost its guiding role. it was in these circumstances that we announced the omts as an option on 6 september 2012. we wanted to be certain that we can live up to our monetary policy mandate for the entire euro area even in times of crisis. at that time, we clearly stipulated three conditions for omts : first, we will take them into consideration only to ensure that our monetary policy signals reach the real economy – in the whole of the euro area, as our mandate requires. second, omts will only be considered provided they are not undermined by short - term national interests, that is, if the member state concerned strictly complies with an adjustment programme of the european financial stability facility ( efsf ) or the european stability mechanism ( esm ) and implements the corresponding macroeconomic, structural and budgetary reforms. third, the member state must have access to the bond market or be about to have access to it in order not to unduly interfere with the market price mechanism ( article 2 of our statute ). just as long as these three conditions are met, the ecb may consider purchasing government bonds of the eligible member states on the secondary market, if this should be necessary from a monetary policy perspective. these three conditions – disrupted transmission of monetary