European banks took up almost twice the amount of cheap loans that analysts had predicted in a second round of European Central Bank refinancing, according to data released Thursday.

The ECB announced that it had agreed to lend 45.3 billion euros ($51 billion) to 249 banks in the eurozone under the so-called TLTRO 2 programme, lower than the first round in June but significantly higher than a forecast of 25 billion euros made by analysts at ING Diba bank.