Lending and consumer data cements case for ECB rate cuts

Euro zone lending continued to stagnate in March and consumers trimmed their inflation expectations as record-high borrowing costs kept putting the brakes on the euro zone's economy, European Central Bank (ECB) reports showed on Friday. The data was likely to cement the ECB's plan to start cutting interest rates in June after seeing inflation fall to just above its 2% goal and economic growth come to a standstill. "Today's data is in line with a start to cautious rate cuts," Bert Colijn, senior economist for the euro zone at ING, said.