Eurozone money supply growth eases for the second straight month in February

The pace of credit growth to households and businesses in the Eurozone edged lower in February, data from the European Central Bank showed Monday. The broad money measure, M3, rose 4.7 percent year-over-year in February, slower than the 4.8 percent climb in January, missing expectations for a 4.9 percent rise. The Eurozone money supply growth eased for the second straight month in February.

Within M3, the annual growth rate of deposits placed by households stood at 5.4 percent in February, down from 5.5 percent in January. While, deposits placed by non-monetary financial corporations registered a decline of 2.0 percent.

The ECB has maintained an ultra-loose monetary policy with low interest rates and stimulus measures which have helped bolster credit growth in the Eurozone over the last two years. The narrower aggregate M1, which includes currency in circulation and overnight deposits, remained unchanged at 8.4 percent in February.

Details of the report showed that the annual growth rate of total credit to euro area residents decreased to 4.3 percent in February from 4.6 percent in the previous month. The yearly growth rate of credit to general government moderated to 9.8 from 10.5 percent.