ECB's Bini Smaghi: Lending To Firms Improving In 2010 -Report

European Central Bank Executive Council member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said Sunday that lending to companies will likely fall further before it starts picking up again, reports La Repubblica in its Monday Internet edition.

Banks' lending will not recover before the beginning of 2010, the paper adds.

Bini Smaghi also reiterated the banks' need to recapitalize as the sector "can't sustain itself indefinitely on central banks' extraordinary measures. An exit strategy will have to be implemented in due time," he was quoted as saying.

He exhorted financial entities to take advantage of the government funds or to find alternative sources so they can boost lending, according to La Repubblica.