FRANKFURT: Loans to the private sector in the euro area, a gauge of economic health, fell year-on-year in June, but by less than in May, the European Central Bank said Friday.
The volume of loans to private businesses and households declined by 1.7 percent from the same month in 2013, a smaller rate than the minus 2.0 percent in May, the ECB said in a statement.
The long and deep financial crisis in the 18 countries which share the euro has caused credit to dry up almost completely.
The overall eurozone money supply grew 1.5 percent in June from a year earlier, better than analysts' forecast of a 1.2-percent rise, and higher than the one-percent growth in May.
The ECB regards M3 money supply as a barometer for future inflation.
Inflation remained stable in June in the euro area at 0.5 percent year-on-year, unchanged from May, a figure far below from the ECB's objective of a rate close to but below 2.0 percent.
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