ECB policies take effect as loans to private sector start to grow

Frankfurt

LOANS to the private sector in the euro area, a gauge of economic health, have started growing again, suggesting that the European Central Bank's (ECB) monetary policy is beginning to work, ECB data showed on Wednesday.

After long months of contraction, the volume of loans to private businesses and households increased by 0.1 per cent in March compared with the same month in 2014, the ECB said in a statement.