Growth in lending to eurozone firms rebounds in July

Growth in lending to companies in the eurozone rebounded in July following a slump in June, data from the European Central Bank showed Monday.

Loans to non-financial corporations grew 2.4 percent last month, adjusting for some purely financial transactions, the ECB recorded in a monthly statement.

June had seen the pace of growth slump to 2.0 percent from the 2.5 percent achieved in May.

Meanwhile, expansion in lending to households maintained its 2.6-percent rate in July, the same level as the previous two months.

Still in adjusted terms, overall growth in lending to the private sector picked up slightly, climbing from 2.5 percent in June to 2.6 percent in July.

Lending to households and non-financial firms is an important indicator of the effectiveness of the ECB's unconventional monetary policy -- designed to boost growth and inflation with easy credit.

With cheap loans to banks, record low interest rates and monthly bond purchases of 60 billion euros ($71.5 billion), policymakers have sought to pump cash through the financial system and into the real economy.