Eurozone Private Sector Credit Growth Remains Weak
(RTTNews) - Eurozone private sector credit growth remained weak and money supply posted the fastest growth in a year in April but the pace of expansion was subdued, data published by the European Central Bank showed on Wednesday.
Claims on the private sector increased 0.7 percent annually after a 0.8 percent gain. Meanwhile, adjusted loans to the private sector posted a slightly faster growth of 0.9 percent compared with 0.8 percent rise in March.
Among the borrowing sectors, the annual growth rate of adjusted loans to households held steady at 0.2 percent in April, which was the slowest growth since early 2015.
At the same time, the annual growth rate of adjusted loans to non-financial corporations eased to 0.3 percent from 0.4 percent in March.
The monetary aggregate M3 grew 1.3 percent on a yearly basis in April, faster than the 0.9 percent increase in March. This was the fastest growth since April 2023.
Meanwhile, the narrow measure M1 continued to decline in April. M1 dropped 6.0 percent annually following a 6.6 percent decrease in March.
In three months to April, M3 growth averaged 0.8 percent.
Data showed that the monetary environment in the euro area continued to be restrictive, ING economist Bert Colijn said. Next week, the ECB is widely expected to lower interest rates by 0.25 percent unless something outrageous happens in the meantime, the economist noted. He expects the next meeting to be in scope for another cut in September.