European Central Bank Chief Economist: AI financing accounts for about one-quarter of corporate loan growth

The Chief Economist of the European Central Bank, Philip Lane, stated in an interview with the Financial Times on Friday that current financing for artificial intelligence (AI) accounts for about a quarter of the growth in bank loans to businesses in the Eurozone. Despite rising interest rates and the negative impact of oil price shocks, the credit creation scale in the 21 member countries of the Eurozone continues to show unexpected resilience.

Lane indicated that without the financing demand in the AI sector, the annual growth rate of corporate loans would only be 3%, rather than the current 4%, even though the overall share of the AI industry in the European economy remains relatively small. He noted that about a quarter of this year's credit growth comes from the AI sector, although these AI industries do not account for a quarter of the entire economy. He reiterated that he prefers to see companies obtain more equity financing rather than relying on debt financing, so that native AI companies can develop more rapidly.