MADRID | The Corner | Loans to the private sector in the euro area fell by 1.2% year-on-year in September, according to the ECB’s data,  a slower rate than the 1.5% decline seen in August.  Are there reasons for optimism? It depends.  “After seven years of crisis, bank loans continue to fall. Those to the private sector have fallen by -0.6% yoy. Loans to non-financial businesses dropped by -1.8%, with Spain and Ireland especially weak,” Barclay’s Alberto Vigil pointed out. “Now if you want  to look through a different glass (loans’ reduction is slowing down), the opposite interpretation is also perfectly correct,” he added.