Luis Molestina Vivar

15 May 2026 By Dorian Henricot, Caterina Mendicino, Luis Molestina Vivar, Wouter Wakker, and Jakob Wenzl Non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) are on the rise. This blog shows how shifts in their borrowing and investment portfolios constrain financing for euro area firms and affect the transmission of monetary policy. Two trends have diverted financing away from euro area firms in recent years. First, euro area NBFIs have shifted their portfolios towards foreign assets – particularly US equities.

This box draws on new data from the ECB Consumer Expectations Survey (CES) to examine households’ demand for cars in the euro area. The car sector plays a crucial role in the euro area economy, accounting for around 10% of manufacturing value added and close to 2% of real GDP.