FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Lending growth to businesses in the 20-nation euro zone accelerated in December, suggesting that a string of interest rate hikes have started to transmit through to the real economy, European Central Bank data showed on Tuesday.
Credit to businesses expanded by 1.5% in December, the highest rate in a year and a half, and above the 1.0% recorded in November. Household lending meanwhile grew by 1.1% after 0.9% a month earlier to hit its best rate since Aug 2023.
The more volatile M3 measure of money circulating in the economy, sometimes an indicator of future economic growth, expanded by 3.5%, trailing expectations for 3.8% in a Reuters poll.
(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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