Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), told an audience in the City of London last night that the ECB has "started observing convincing signs that fragmentation on the funding side for banks has decreased greatly".

Draghi said that "although bank lending to businesses and households remains anaemic", he and his colleagues "are now seeing some signs of slight improvement on the lending side as well, as our regular surveillance of bank lending conditions and access to finance