U.S. banks saw increased demand for lending in the first quarter and made loans easier to get, according to a Federal Reserve survey.

“Domestic banks generally reported having eased their lending standards and having experienced stronger demand over the past three months,” the Fed said today in Washington in its quarterly survey of senior loan officers. It said the number of banks reporting eased standards and improved demand, rather than the reverse, was “modest.”

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke this month cited improving credit conditions as removing a restraint to faster growth that should allow the economy to “approach more quickly its longer-run full employment level.” In its April 25 statement, the Federal Open Market Committee said it expects growth to remain moderate over coming quarters and then to “pick up gradually.”