Euro-Zone Private Lending Falls

WALL STREET JOURNAL

By NINA KOEPPEN

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125663685813009831.html?mod=djemITPE

“FRANKFURT — A first-ever contraction in private-sector lending will likely disappoint the European Central Bank, which aims to make a timely exit from special measures intended to support a weak euro-zone economy and a struggling banking sector.

Private-sector lending decreased 0.3% in September from a year earlier, after rising by an annual rate of 0.1% in August, data from the ECB showed Tuesday.

Economists warned that insufficient lending — which comes despite the ECB’s unlimited supply of liquidity to euro-zone banks — could undermine the currency bloc’s recovery…”