FRANKFURT — The European Central Bank offered a slightly more optimistic view of the euro area’s economy Thursday, but also extended its lifeline to troubled banks in the zone amid signs that the gap in growth between Northern and Southern Europe was growing.
Jean-Claude Trichet, the E.C.B. president, said that the central bank would continue to provide commercial banks with unlimited funds at the benchmark interest rate, which the bank left at 1 percent, “for as long as necessary” and at least through mid-January.
Since the beginning of the financial crisis, the E.C.B. has been providing huge amounts of liquidity to banks that have trouble obtaining short-term funds from other banks or in the money markets.
“Tensions remain in the banking sector,” Marie Diron, an economist in London who advises Ernst & Young, the consulting firm, wrote in a note Thursday. “Many banks continue to face difficult access to funds, which leads to tight credit conditions for the real economy.”
Mr. Trichet offered a slightly more positive assessment of the European economy at a news conference Thursday, saying he was more confident that Europe wo not slip into recession again. He added that “uncertainty still prevails.”
His remarks came hours after the central bank of Sweden, which is not a member of the euro zone, raised its benchmark interest rate. The action, taken to head off inflation as the country’s economy surges, highlighted the diverging growth rates in Europe.
The Riksbank in Stockholm increased its benchmark rate, known as the repo rate, to 0.75 percent from 0.5 percent. The central bank had raised the rate in July from a record low of 0.25 percent.
“Inflationary pressures are currently low, but are expected to increase as economic activity strengthens,” the Riksbank said.
The rate “needs to be raised gradually towards more normal levels to attain the inflation target of 2 percent and create the right conditions for stable growth in the real economy.”
The E.C.B., which sets monetary policy for the 16 countries in the euro zone, is unlikely to raise interest rates until growth is better established, provided inflation remains below the official target of 2 percent.
E.C.B. watchers do not expect euro-zone rates to rise until well into 2011.
In Europe’s two-speed recovery, Germany and other export-oriented countries in the north are booming while Spain, Portugal, Greece and other countries, primarily in the south, struggle with high government debt and slow growth or declines.
In another indication of the divergence in economies, Eurostat, the European Union statistics agency, said Thursday that exports from the euro zone rose 4.4 percent in the second quarter.
While the agency did not give a country-by-country breakdown, it was likely that the rise came primarily from Germany, which the agency said showed the strongest increase in gross domestic product, up 2.2 percent from the previous quarter.
E.C.B. loans have been crucial for the euro zone’s weaker banks, which are concentrated in the countries with the weakest economies, like Greece and Spain. Eurostat said Greek economic output fell 1.5 percent in the second quarter compared with the previous quarter. Spain grew just 0.2 percent.
The E.C.B. has been trying to take banks gradually off life support, but comments last month by Axel Weber, president of the German central bank, and a member of the E.C.B.’s governing council, indicate that policy makers are ready to continue providing unlimited loans for months to come.
Mr. Trichet said Thursday that the E.C.B. wanted to withdraw what it calls the nonstandard measures, but would do so in line with developments in the markets.
“We have to remain cautious and prudent — we don’t declare victory,” Mr. Trichet said. “Monetary policy will do all that is needed to maintain price stability in the euro area over the medium term.”
Asked Thursday whether he stood by earlier comments that he did not think Europe was headed for a double-dip recession, Mr. Trichet replied, “I am even more inclined to say that.”
