Eurozone money supply growth rises in july

Eurozone money supply growth improved slightly in July, while the increase in lending to private sector eased, the European Central Bank (EBC) said Friday. The M3 indicator rose 2.0 percent following a gain of 1.9 percent in June. The ECB had initially estimated the increase in June at 2.1 percent and analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had penciled in a rise of 2.2 percent in July. The ECB regards the M3 figure as a key guide to inflation pressures and uses it to set interest rates accordingly. The central bank seeks to keep eurozone inflation below but close to 2.0 percent but it stood at 2.5 percent in July. Meanwhile, the rate of growth in eurozone bank loans to the private sector slowed slightly in July, the ECB said. (QNA)