Conversations with Experts - Webinar

Credit demand across Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe remains strong. International banking groups still see the region as a place to grow, and more than three-quarters plan to expand their operations over the longer term. Yet the outlook is not without tension: banks expect lending conditions to weaken slightly, particularly for large companies, even as households and businesses continue to seek more credit.

These are among the findings of the European Investment Bank’s CESEE Bank Lending Survey for the first half of 2026. Drawing on responses from 12 international banking groups and 65 local subsidiaries and independent banks, the survey offers a rare view of the region from both sides of the parent-subsidiary relationship. It covers banks representing around half of local banking assets in the markets surveyed.

What lies behind the gap between buoyant demand and more cautious supply? How are regulation, the global outlook and expectations about credit quality shaping banks’ willingness to lend? And what do favourable funding conditions and continued interest in regional expansion tell us about the longer-term position of CESEE within European banking?

This event launches CEE Perspective Academy’s new “Conversation with the Experts” series: focused online sessions in which specialists present recent research and discuss what its findings mean for the region. For the inaugural conversation, Matteo Ferrazzi, Principal Advisor and Senior Economist at the European Investment Bank and coordinator of the survey, will guide us through the results and the signals beneath the headline figures. His presentation will be followed by questions from the audience.