AFP, Frankfurt Am Main :
Businesses and households in the eurozone borrowed more in December, data released Friday by the European Central Bank showed, suggesting the institution’s loose monetary policy is reaching the real economy.
Loans to households grew at 2.0 percent year-on-year in the final month of 2016, correcting for some purely financial transactions-an increase of 0.1 percentage points over November’s figure.
Meanwhile, growth in non-financial corporations’ borrowing added 0.2 percentage points to reach 2.3 percent, more than recovering from a slight fall in the pace of growth in November.
The ECB will “particularly welcome” the news on business lending, IHS Markit economist Howard Archer wrote, noting that the measure reached a five-year high.
“This provides support to the ECB’s claim that its monetary policy measures are working,” he went on.
The Frankfurt institution has cut interest rates to record lows and buys tens of billions of government and corporate bonds every month.
Businesses and households in the eurozone borrowed more in December, data released Friday by the European Central Bank showed, suggesting the institution’s loose monetary policy is reaching the real economy.
Loans to households grew at 2.0 percent year-on-year in the final month of 2016, correcting for some purely financial transactions-an increase of 0.1 percentage points over November’s figure.
Meanwhile, growth in non-financial corporations’ borrowing added 0.2 percentage points to reach 2.3 percent, more than recovering from a slight fall in the pace of growth in November.
The ECB will “particularly welcome” the news on business lending, IHS Markit economist Howard Archer wrote, noting that the measure reached a five-year high.
“This provides support to the ECB’s claim that its monetary policy measures are working,” he went on.
The Frankfurt institution has cut interest rates to record lows and buys tens of billions of government and corporate bonds every month.
