Euro zone lending growth accelerates further, ECB data shows

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Euro zone lending growth accelerated further last month, suggesting that credit growth bottomed out in late 2024 and a mild expansion is now underway as interest rates fall, European Central Bank data showed on Thursday.

Lending to firms expanded by 2.2% in February, its best level since mid-2023, and above the 2.0% growth a month earlier, the ECB said. Credit to households meanwhile grew by 1.5% after 1.3% a month earlier.

The M3 measure of money circulating in the bloc, often an indicator of future economic activity, grew by 4.0% in February after 3.8% in January, above expectations for 3.8%.

(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Peter Graff)