Depressed demand for loans in the euro zone is continuing to stabilise, data published by the European Central Bank showed today.
The ECB compiles monthly statistics on loans to the private sector.
These are a key gauge of economic health and particularly closely watched at the moment since chronic weakness in credit is seen as the main hurdle to a more sustained recovery in the single currency area.
The ECB's latest data showed that in October loans to the private sector in the euro area fell by 1.1% year-on-year, a slightly slower rate of decline than the 1.2% decline seen in September.
At the same time, the ECB calculated that growth of the overall euro zone money supply - a barometer for future inflation - stood at 2.5%, the same rate of change as in September.
The ECB regards M3 money supply as a barometer for future inflation. The two sets of data provided some room for encouragement, analysts said.
The contraction in loans was now shallower than it has been since April 2013 and much better than the trough in January this year, Schulz said.
Analysts said that the October data support the picture of a stabilisation in the monetary dynamic in the euro area. But they added that momentum was still very weak.
