Loan demand in the euro area is rebounding despite geopolitical uncertainty, the European Central Bank’s July Bank Lending Survey showed on Tuesday. The poll of 155 lenders found that requests for corporate credit remained weak overall but rose slightly in the second quarter of 2025 and are expected to increase further in the current quarter. Banks kept credit standards for firms broadly unchanged and anticipate little movement in the third quarter. Housing-market activity continues to outpace corporate borrowing. Demand for mortgages increased substantially in the second quarter and lenders foresee another strong rise in the months ahead. While banks tightened mortgage approval criteria modestly in the spring, they expect those standards to ease somewhat in the third quarter. Consumer-credit standards, by contrast, tightened more sharply. Banks said lower interest rates supported borrowing appetite, partly offsetting the dampening effect of trade frictions. Most institutions reported no additional tightening linked specifically to the trade standoff. Separately, the ECB noted that firms’ one-year-ahead inflation expectations fell to 2.5% from 2.9%, with three- and five-year views steady at 3.0%.