Monetary developments in the euro area: December 2018

• Annual growth rate of broad monetary aggregate M3 increased to 4.1% in December 2018 from 3.7% in November
• Annual growth rate of narrower monetary aggregate M1comprising currency in circulation and overnight deposits, stood at 6.6% in December, compared with 6.7% in November
• Annual growth rate of adjusted loans to households stood at 3.3% in December, unchanged from previous month
• Annual growth rate of adjusted loans to non-financial corporations stood at 4.0% in December, unchanged from previous month

Components of the broad monetary aggregate M3

The annual growth rate of the broad monetary aggregate M3 increased to 4.1% in December 2018 from 3.7% in November, averaging 3.9% in the three months up to December. The components of M3 showed the following developments. The annual growth rate of the narrower aggregate M1, which comprises currency in circulation and overnight deposits, stood at 6.6% in December, compared with 6.7% in November. The annual growth rate of short-term deposits other than overnight deposits (M2-M1) was -0.8% in December, compared with -1.0% in November. The annual growth rate of marketable instruments (M3-M2) increased to 0.6% in December from -5.8% in November.

Chart 1

Monetary aggregates

(annual growth rates)

Looking at the components' contributions to the annual growth rate of M3, the narrower aggregate M1 contributed 4.3 percentage points (down from 4.4 percentage points in November), short-term deposits other than overnight deposits (M2-M1) contributed -0.2 percentage point (up from -0.3 percentage point) and marketable instruments (M3-M2) contributed 0.0 percentage point (up from -0.3 percentage point).From the perspective of the holding sectors of deposits in M3, the annual growth rate of deposits placed by households increased to 5.2% in December from 4.9% in November, while the annual growth rate of deposits placed by non-financial corporations stood at 3.9% in December, compared with 3.8% in November. Finally, the annual growth rate of deposits placed by non-monetary financial corporations (excluding insurance corporations and pension funds) decreased to -0.4% in December from 0.3% in November.

Counterparts of the broad monetary aggregate M3

As a reflection of changes in the items on the monetary financial institution (MFI) consolidated balance sheet other than M3 (counterparts of M3), the annual growth rate of M3 in December 2018 can be broken down as follows: credit to the private sector contributed 3.1 percentage points (down from 3.2 percentage points in November), credit to general government contributed 0.8 percentage point (as in the previous month), net external assets contributed 0.6 percentage point (down from 0.7 percentage point), longer-term financial liabilities contributed -0.4 percentage point (down from -0.3 percentage point), and the remaining counterparts of M3 contributed 0.0 percentage point (up from -0.7 percentage point).

Chart 2

Contribution of the M3 counterparts to the annual growth rate of M3

(percentage points)

Credit to euro area residents

As regards the dynamics of credit, the annual growth rate of total credit to euro area residents stood at 2.6% in December 2018, compared with 2.7% in the previous month. The annual growth rate of credit to general government stood at 2.0% in December, compared with 2.1% in November, while the annual growth rate of credit to the private sector stood at 2.9% in December, unchanged from the previous month.The annual growth rate of adjusted loans to the private sector (i.e. adjusted for loan sales, securitisation and notional cash pooling) stood at 3.4% in December, compared with 3.3% in November. Among the borrowing sectors, the annual growth rate of adjusted loans to households stood at 3.3% in December, while the annual growth rate of adjusted loans to non-financial corporations stood at 4.0% in December, both unchanged from the previous month.

Chart 3

Adjusted loans to the private sector

(annual growth rates)

Annex

Notes:

• Data in this press release are adjusted for seasonal and end-of-month calendar effects, unless stated otherwise.
• "Private sector" refers to euro area non-MFIs excluding general government.
• Hyperlinks in the main body of the press release and in annex tables are dynamic. The data they lead to may therefore change with subsequent data releases as a result of revisions. Figures shown in annex tables are a snapshot of the data as at the time of the current release.