The report warns Europe could be hit harder than the US if the liquidity problems are not resolved.
ECB executive board member Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell said the supply of credit to eurozone firms is still not adequate.
"Credit supply is very important for the recovery [but] it is not yet there," she said during a question-and-answer session at a banking conference.
The ECB bank lending survey, conducted four times a year, examines how financial market tensions are affecting banks' credit standards.
The latest installment, which reflects the situation in the fourth quarter of 2009 and expectations for the first quarter of 2010, suggested some easing of credit standards in the mortgage market but offered a gloomier picture on consumer credit and loans to businesses.
The survey predicts some further tightening of credit on loans to "non-financial corporations" – all businesses not directly involved in banking – in early 2010.
The net percentage of banks reporting an increase in household demand for housing loans continued to rise for the third quarter in a row, mostly explained by the contribution of improving housing market prospects.
At the same time, developments in demand for consumer loans were more sluggish, the ECB found.
Banks generally reported that their access to wholesale funding had eased in the fourth quarter of 2009, apart from their ability to transfer credit risk off their balance sheets, which deteriorated further.
When asked to assess net credit standards for 2010, euro area banks did not foresee any easing in the coming months, except on housing loans.
