Dutch corporate bank lending picks up

In March 2025, Dutch banks had €277 billion worth of domestic corporate loans outstanding, up 5% from a year earlier. Average growth in the euro area was 2.3% over the same period.

This development follows a trend that has been evident for some time: since June 2024, corporate lending growth in the Netherlands has almost consistently outperformed the rest of the euro area on a monthly basis. Before then, growth actually lagged behind the euro area average for a decade.

The following factors may be contributing to this development: first, Dutch banks have tightened their lending criteria to a lesser extent than their counterparts in other euro area countries; second, there has been a decline in the issuance of debt securities by Dutch businesses, which serve as an alternative to bank loans. A further factor is that lending in Germany, Europe's largest economy, lagged somewhat, especially in the second half of 2024.

Banks issued fewer loans to businesses during aftermath of financial crisis     

Whereas the Dutch economy recovered from the financial crisis between 2014 and 2020, corporate lending was sluggish. This was possibly due to high interest rates on business loans and banks’ strict acceptance criteria, acting as a drag on lending to SMEs in particular. At the same time, Dutch businesses made extensive repayments to reduce their relatively high debts.

COVID-19 crisis proves turning point for corporate lending in the Netherlands

But that gradually changed after the COVID-19 crisis had erupted. To limit the ensuing economic damage, banks could, for instance, borrow money from the European Central Bank (ECB) on favourable terms (TLTROs), on condition that they lent this money to households and businesses.

Corporate lending continued to grow after COVID-19 crisis

Corporate lending in the Netherlands maintained its overall growth trajectory despite the ECB’s decision to revert to a tighter monetary policy in 2022, with the aim of addressing the inflation triggered by the reopening of the economy following the COVID-19 crisis and the significant escalation in energy costs due to the war in Ukraine.

As the ECB has gradually taken the foot off the brake again since mid-2024, lowering its policy rates, corporate bank lending in the Netherlands is outperforming the rest of the euro area.

More information

• Table gmon2: Lending by Dutch MFIs to Dutch non-financial corporations, adjusted for securitisations
• Table 5.5: Trends in acceptance criteria and bank lending demand with Dutch-based MFIs
• Table 4.1: Outstanding amount and transactions of debt securities
• Dashboard: Corporate lending