ECB: Euro zone bank lending continues to surge amid crisis

Lending to euro zone companies continued to surge in May as firms relied heavily on bank credit to stay afloat amid the continent’s coronavirus-related lockdown, data from the European Central Bank showed on Friday.

Lending growth to non-financial corporations accelerated to 7.3% in May from 6.6% a month earlier, its best rate since early 2009. Household lending growth meanwhile held steady at 3.0%.