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The exceptional measures announced last week by the European Central Bank (ECB) to support lending and encourage banks to buy sovereign debt have, for now, had very little effect in a context of tension persistent.

Lending to three years, unheard of even in 2008, lower reserve ratio, expansion of assets accepted, the ECB wanted to remove the "bazooka" in the words echoed by the Governor of the Banque de France, Christian Walnut.

"It gives a little oxygen, but it is not miraculous," however, tempered this week a banker, considering that "the subject background of liquidity remains."

In terms of credit, no indicator can also measure what effect these measures may be produced.

But "we can assume that this money does not go in financing conventional" analysis Eric Lamarque, a professor at the University of Bordeaux-4.

The fact that banks continue to re-file every night, huge sums from the ECB rather than inject them into the economy is not very good sign. Monday, 346 billion have been placed, a record for 18 months. The operation is very profitable, but safe.

"We give cash. The banks are then free to do whatever they want," says Do we at the ECB.

"We can not prevent them to file with us, we can not limit the amount of deposits," says the same source.

"We're trying to change this attitude which is not much market (...) but it also depends on other factors such as the credibility of governments in the euro area, the issue of governance" in particular, pleads on the side of Frankfurt.

Pending updated data on credit, it is easier to quantify the impact of these measures on the market for government bonds in the euro area.

In one week, the Spanish rate sharply declined. Italian yields have also plunged at first but is Friday again well above 6% for the securities of 10-year benchmark.

As for French bonds, regularly abused since the beginning of the fall, the rate rose Friday to below 3% for the first time in over a month.

"In the market, except for the ECB, banks buy the debt of their countries" but do not venture also said another banker.

Strategies were within Crédit Agricole CIB and Spanish banks intervened heavily in debt Iberian, which would explain the success of the particular bond issue Thursday.

But as for finding an appetite for other sovereign debt, "the French banks, for example, will no longer buy Italian debt. They did it once, not twice," warned Thomas Philippon, a professor at Stern School of Business (NYU).

A crisis in the euro area, has added the decision of the European regulator (EBA) to force the banks to be included on their balance sheet the present value on the market for government securities in the portfolio they have instead of the they had at the time of acquisition. However, this value has deteriorated considerably since the time the banks have acquired these securities, which completely distorts the sovereign debt, been considered as a stable asset par excellence.

"As long as they may fear further losses on European sovereign debt, banks will remain reluctant to buy," believes Eric Dor, director of research at the IESEG School of Management.