Eurozone: Lending growth to private sector inches up despite growth concerns - ING

Bert Colijn, senior economist at ING, points out that the Eurozone’s growth in adjusted lending to the private sector increased from 3.3% to 3.4% in December, despite concerns about growth.

Key Quotes

“Growth in new orders has slowed materially over the last months of 2018 and even declined this month according to the PMI, but businesses continue to borrow at a decent pace for now.”

“The broad monetary aggregate M3 grew faster than in November, up from 3.7% to 4.1%, but the better leading indicator M1 saw its annual growth rate decrease from 6.7% to 6.6%.”

“According to the bank lending survey from the ECB, banks are expecting growth in demand for lending to slow further in the first quarter, meaning that the economy may not profit as much from increased investment.”