Credit applications by eurozone companies unexpectedly fell last quarter for the first time in six years, despite a further reduction in the European Central Bank’s main interest rate, an ECB survey showed on Tuesday. The eurozone has been struggling with sluggish growth for two years as a global trade war and a slowdown in China hurt its exports, offsetting stronger domestic demand in some countries. This is now starting to show in companies’ decisions to cut down on investment and credit – a trend that banks now expect to continue, the ECB said in its quarterly Bank Lending Survey. “Net demand for loans to enterprises declined in the fourth quarter of 2019 … the first time this had been seen since […]