Possible recovery attempts at the beginning of the year due to the dynamics of credit disbursement in the euro area: private sector loan growth strengthened to plus 1,5% year-on-year, from plus 1,2% in December which had represented a weakening compared to the plus 1,9% in November, net of sales and securitizations.
However, the raw dynamics of loans to the banking sector remained weaker, plus 1,1% annually, almost unchanged from the plus 1% in December, and below the plus 1,7% in November. The data, released with the monthly analysis of the European Central Bank, however remain at values well below the double-digit growth rates recorded before the crisis that exploded between 2007 and 2008.
This while towards the end of the year other surveys, including the Bank Lending Survey of the ECB itself, had highlighted a new tightening of the bank credit crunch in the euro area. The aggregates released today are more general, in particular the M3 on the money supply which in January recorded a plus 2,5%, from +1,5% in December and after +2% in February.
