Euro zone: Corporate credit growth continued to accelerate in May-ECB | Photo credit: Shutterstock
June 29 (Reuters) – Eurozone corporate loan growth continued to rise in May, European Central Bank (ECB) data showed on Wednesday, suggesting a possible hoarding of funds by companies ahead of the hike ECB interest rates later in the year.
Business loans rose 5.8% last month, compared to 5.2% in April, registering the highest growth rate since the start of 2021.
The growth rate of loans to households meanwhile remained at 4.6%, its highest level since the end of 2008.
The annual growth rate of M3 money supply, however, slowed to 5.6%, the weakest pace in two years, before the increase in bond purchases by the ECB in response to the pandemic. (Report Balazs Koranyi; French version Dagmarah Mackos, editing by Kate Entringer)