Brussels, 25/07/2002 (Agence Europe) - Buoyant eurozone M3 money supply growth slowed in June to 7.1% from 7.7% in May, a sharp and unexpected contraction in the European Central Bank's closely watched key inflation barometer. Experts said clouds gathering over the economic recovery, highlighted by recent sharp stock market sell-offs, should prevent the ECB from springing into action despite its inflation concerns before the summer break.
The less volatile M3 three-month average (which smoothes over monthly variations) stabilised at 7.4% in the April-June period compared with the same period of 2001. Credit growth to the private sector, which the ECB also watches closely, was also steady at an annual rate of 5.4%.