Details matter: loan pricing and transmission of monetary policy in the euro area

Does the maturity of the relevant risk-free rate influence the strength of monetary policy pass- through to interest rates on new loans? To address this question, we present novel empirical evidence on lending practices across all euro area countries, using AnaCredit data covering nearly seven million new loans issued to non-financial corporations in 2022–2023. We document sub- stantial variation in (a) the prevalence of fixed- vs floating-rate loans, (b) rate fixation periods, and (c) reference rates. This variation results in lending rates being exposed to different seg- ments of the risk-free rate yield curve which, in turn, influence their sensitivity to monetary policy changes. We show that loans linked to shorter-maturity risk-free rates experience more pronounced monetary pass-through. Importantly, this effect is not purely mechanical, as part of the effect is offset by adjustments in the premium, revealing previously less-explored hetero- geneity in the pass-through to lending rates.

Keywords: Lending Rates, Interest Rate Pass-Through, Fixed-Rate Loans, Floating-Rate Loans

JEL Codes: E52, E43, G21, E58