Euro zone corporate lending growth rises back to post-crisis high

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Bank lending to euro zone companies accelerated last month to match a post-crisis high hit last year, in a sign credit kept flowing smoothly in the bloc despite an economic slowdown, data from the European Central Bank showed on Thursday.

Corporate loans grew by 4.3% year on year in August, up from a revised 4% in the previous month and the highest since September 2018. Credit to households increased by 3.4%, steady from July.

The annual growth rate of the M3 measure of money supply, which often serves as a reliable indicator of future activity, grew by 5.7%, beating forecasts and setting the best pace in a decade.

(Reporting By Francesco Canepa; Editing by Toby Chopra)