Euro zone lending growth picks up, ECB says 

FRANKFURT, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Growth in bank lending to euro zone companies and households accelerated in July, the first full month after the European Central Bank raised interest rates for the first time in nearly three years, ECB data showed on Thursday.

The annual growth rate of loans to non-financial corporations was 4.4% in July, up from 4.0% in June.

Lending to households grew by 3.1%, up from a rate of 3.0% in June.

(Writing by Ludwig Burger;Editing by Francesco Canepa)