According to the report from the European Central Bank (ECB), in December, the M3 monetary aggregate rose by 0.1% per annum after falling by 0.9% in November. This was the first increase in the last six months. Economists had expected the M3 monetary aggregate to decrease by 0.7% per annum.
Meanwhile, the narrower M1 aggregate, which includes money in circulation and overnight deposits, fell by 8.5% per annum, slowing compared to November (-9.5%). The annual growth rate of short-term deposits, except overnight deposits (M2-M1), accelerated to 20.9% from 20.8% in November.
Looking at the components' contributions to the annual growth rate of M3, the M1 contributed -6.0% (compared to -6.8% in November), short-term deposits other than overnight deposits (M2-M1) contributed 5.1% (compared to 5% in November) and marketable instruments (M3-M2) contributed 1.0% (compared to 0.9% in November).
The data also showed that the private loans rose by 0.3% per year after a 0.5% per year increase in November. It was the weakest pace of growth since March 2015, due to the dampened demand for credit caused by the ECB's aggressive monetary policy tightening. Economists had expected an increase of 0.6% per annum. Lending to companies grew by 0.4% per annum after stabilizing in November.