On the one hand, it is plausible that consumption growth will strengthen considerably over the period ahead, supported by strong income growth and an unemployment rate that is trending down. On the other hand, this more cautious approach to spending could be quite long lasting, with households using the strong income growth to further improve their balance sheets.
This development reflects further net redemptions in loans to non-financial corporations. Net redemptions, however, were less pronounced than in previous months, amounting to € billion in November, after € billion in October and € billion in September. The annual rate of decline in loans to non-financial corporations was –1.4% in November, after –1.5% in October.