According to the report from the European Central Bank (ECB), in March, the M3 monetary aggregate rose by 0.9% per year after an increase of 0.4% in February. It was the fourth increase in a row. Economists had expected the M3 monetary aggregate to grow by 0.4% per annum.
Meanwhile, the narrower M1 aggregate, which includes money in circulation and overnight deposits, fell by 6.7% per annum, slowing compared to February (-7.8%). The annual growth rate of short-term deposits, except overnight deposits (M2-M1), decreased to 16.9% from 18.8% in February.
Looking at the components' contributions to the annual growth rate of M3, the M1 contributed -4.6% (compared to -5.4% in February), short-term deposits other than overnight deposits (M2-M1) contributed 4.4% (compared to 4.8% in February) and marketable instruments (M3-M2) contributed 1.0% (compared to 0.9% in February).
The data also showed that the private loans rose by 0.2% per year after an increase by 0.3% in February. It was the weakest pace of growth since March 2015, due to the dampened demand for credit caused by the ECB's monetary policy tightening. Economists had expected an increase of 0.3% per annum. Lending to companies grew by 0.4% per annum after a similar increase in February.