Growth in lending to euro zone corporations slowed almost to a halt in September while a broader measure of money circulating in the euro zone was unchanged, the European Central Bank said today.
Lending growth to non-financial corporations slowed to an annualised 0.1% in September from 0.4% a month before, while lending growth to households picked up to 1.1% in September from 1% in August.
Sparse lending to companies has dogged the struggling euro zone economy although the picture improved slightly over the summer months before September's dip.
The ECB last week raised the prospect of providing more monetary stimulus to the euro zone economy, possibly as soon as December, to boost inflation and growth.
The M3 measure of money circulating in the euro zone, which is often an early indicator of future economic activity, grew by 4.9% in September, unchanged from August and missing forecasts for 5%.
