Euro zone lending growth accelerates in July

Lending to euro zone households and firms accelerated slightly in July while a broader measure of money circulating in the euro zone also picked up, European Central Bank data showed on Thursday.

Lending growth to households picked up to 1.9 percent in July from 1.7 percent a month earlier while lending to non-financial corporations accelerated to 0.9 percent from 0.2 percent.

Sparse lending to companies had dogged the struggling euro zone economy although the picture has been improving since late 2014 and policy setters said the bloc is recovering, albeit slowly.

The M3 measure of money circulating in the euro zone, which is often an early indicator of future economic activity, grew by 5.3 percent in July, picking up from a 5.0 percent rate in June and also beating forecasts for 4.9 percent.

The ECB did not provide a three-month moving average for M3 growth.

source: Reuters