Euro zone corporate lending accelerates in December

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Bank loans to euro zone companies grew at the fastest pace in 4- 1/2 years last month and a key measure of money circulating, often an indicator of future activity, rose more than expected, the European Central Bank said on Friday.

Corporate lending grew by 2.3 percent in December after a revised 2.1 percent increase one month earlier, the data showed.

Household lending growth in the 19-member currency bloc accelerated to 2.0 percent from 1.9 percent in November, the biggest gain since mid 2011.

The annual growth rate of the M3 measure of money circulating in the euro zone, which has in the past often predicted economic activity, rose 5.0 percent last month from 4.8 percent in November, slightly beating forecasts for 4.9 percent.

(Reporting by Andreas Framke; Editing by Francesco Canepa)