Financial Aggregates December 2008

Total credit provided to the private sector by financial intermediaries fell by 0.3 per cent over December 2008, following a rise of 0.4 per cent over November. Over the year to December, total credit rose by 6.7 per cent.

The fall in total credit in December reflected a fall in business credit, which is estimated to have contracted by 1.1 per cent. This reflected a fall in foreign currency denominated lending.

Over the month of December, M3 fell by 0.1 per cent and broad money fell by 0.5 per cent. Over the year to December, broad money grew by 10.1 per cent.

Historical levels and growth rates for the financial aggregates have been revised owing to the resubmission of data by some financial intermediaries, the re-estimation of seasonal factors and the incorporation of securitisation data.

All growth rates for the financial aggregates are seasonally adjusted, and adjusted for the effects of breaks in the series as recorded in the footnotes to tables. Figures showing the levels of financial aggregates are not adjusted for series breaks.

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