Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 29, 2026
1 min readLast updated: January 29, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleEuro zone corporate lending growth slowed to 3.0% in December, while household lending rose to 3.0%, indicating modest economic expansion.
FRANKFURT, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Lending growth to euro zone firms stalled last month but household lending kept inching up, European Central Bank data showed on Thursday, backing the views of economists that the currency bloc's expansion is modest, even if quite steady.
Credit growth to businesses slowed to 3.0% in December, from 3.1% a month earlier, while loan growth to households accelerated to 3.0% from 2.9% to hit its highest level since early 2023.
The M3 measure of money circulating in the euro zone, often an indicator of future activity, slowed to 2.8% from 3.0%, coming below expectations for 3.0% growth in a Reuters poll of analysts.
(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Alex Richardson)
Corporate lending refers to the process where banks or financial institutions provide loans to businesses for various purposes, such as expansion, operational costs, or capital investments.
Household lending involves loans provided to individuals or families for personal use, including mortgages, personal loans, and credit cards, aimed at supporting their financial needs.
The M3 money supply is a measure of the total amount of money in circulation within an economy, including cash, checking deposits, and easily convertible near money.
Credit growth refers to the increase in the amount of credit extended by financial institutions to borrowers, which can indicate economic expansion or contraction.
Monetary policy is the process by which a central bank manages the money supply and interest rates to achieve macroeconomic objectives such as controlling inflation and stabilizing currency.
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