Finance
Euro Zone Bank Lending Continued to Pick up Before Tariffs, ECB Data Shows
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 29, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
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Euro zone bank lending grew in March, driven by rate cuts, before US trade tariffs, ECB data shows. Business lending rose 2.3%, household lending 1.7%.
Euro Zone Bank Lending Growth Accelerates Before Tariffs
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Lending growth to euro zone businesses continued to accelerate in March, indicating that a series of interest rate cuts was bolstering activity before the United States launched a global trade war, European Central Bank data showed on Tuesday.
Lending to euro area firms expanded by 2.3% in March after a 2.0% reading a month earlier, its highest level since the middle of 2023. Household lending meanwhile expanded by 1.7% after 1.5% in February, a close to two-year high.
However, growth in the M3 measure of money circulating in the bloc, often an indicator of future economic activity, slowed to 3.6% in March from 3.9% a month earlier, trailing expectations for 4.0%.
(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
Key Takeaways
- •Euro zone business lending grew by 2.3% in March.
- •Household lending reached a near two-year high at 1.7%.
- •M3 money supply growth slowed to 3.6% in March.
- •Interest rate cuts bolstered lending activity.
- •US trade tariffs loom over economic outlook.
Frequently Asked Questions about Euro zone bank lending continued to pick up before tariffs, ECB data shows
1What is the main topic?
The article discusses the growth in euro zone bank lending before the impact of US trade tariffs, as reported by the ECB.
2How did business lending change?
Business lending in the euro zone expanded by 2.3% in March, up from 2.0% in February.
3What about household lending?
Household lending increased by 1.7% in March, marking a near two-year high.
