The contraction of bank lending to businesses in the Eurozone is worsening, which in October recorded a 3,7% drop on an annual basis, following the 3,6% drop in the previous month. The figures are contained in the monthly report on monetary aggregates published by the ECB. The trend is also confirmed in the data adjusted for the effects of disposals and securitisations, composing a contraction of 2,9% on the year.
The ease of access to refinancing that the institute led by Mario Draghi ensures for the banks, therefore, is not reflected downstream, in the credit that the banks themselves grant to companies which instead continues to worsen.
Lending to households showed a stable trend, growing by 0,1%, thanks to the acceleration of mortgage loans for the purchase of properties, +0,9% on an annual basis, after +0,8% in September. Lending to the private sector as a whole (companies plus households) instead continues to show a negative trend, -2,1%, worsening from -2% a month earlier.
The overall M3 money supply aggregate weakened sharply, slowing down to +1,4% in October after +2% in September. The figure disappointed analysts' forecasts.
