ECB Chief Economist: AI Financing Contributed 25% of Corporate Loan Growth

TechFlow, November 13: ECB Chief Economist Lane said in a Friday interview with the Financial Times that AI financing currently accounts for about one quarter of growth in bank lending to companies in the euro area. Despite rising interest rates and the negative impact of oil price shocks, credit creation across the euro area's 21 member states has shown resilience beyond expectations.

Lane said that without financing demand from the AI sector, the annual growth rate of corporate loans would be only 3%, rather than the current 4%, even though the AI industry's overall share of the European economy remains relatively small. Lane said: "About one quarter of this year's credit growth has come from the AI sector, even though these AI industries account for less than a quarter of the overall economy." He reiterated that he would prefer to see companies secure more equity financing rather than rely on debt financing, so that AI-native companies can grow faster. (Jin10)

Source: TechFlow