BNP Paribas takes 14 billion euros of cheap ECB loans

PARIS (Reuters) - French bank BNP Paribas took 14 billion euros (13.6 billion pounds) of low-cost, long-term loans on offer from the European Central Bank on Thursday, France's biggest lender said. "BNP Paribas has taken 14 billion in the December TLTRO window at a group level," a BNP spokeswoman said after a second offering this year of almost zero-cost loans to banks. "The bank fully supports this initiative of the ECB to stimulate lending in the euro zone economy, in particular for retail, corporate banking and consumer finance activities." (Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by James Regan)