Loans to the private sector fell 0.8 percent from the same month a year ago, data released by the European Central Bank showed on Thursday, coming in below the expectations of economists polled by Reuters for a drop of 0.6 percent.

From the previous month, lending to firms fell by 20 billion euros, the data also showed.

Euro zone M3 money supply - a more general measure of cash in the economy - grew at an annual pace of 2.7 percent in September, slowing from 2.8 percent in August. The consensus in a Reuters poll of analysts was for a reading of 3.0 percent.