Euro zone money growth at high

Euro zone money supply growth remained at a record high of 12.3 per cent in November.

Euro zone money supply growth remained at a record high of 12.3 per cent in November.

That keeps pressure on the European Central Bank as it tries to assess how much the growth has been driven by financial market turmoil.

High money and credit growth can point to inflation problems down the road, but this signal has been distorted by shifts in investors' portfolios and banks' lending since the eruption of the US subprime mortgage crisis in August last year.

Growth in lending to the private sector slowed slightly to 11 per cent from 11.2, but the split between corporate and consumer lending persisted.

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Corporate borrowing grew by 14.0 per cent in November versus 13.9 per cent the previous month, while consumer credit slowed to 5 per cent from 5.5, and mortgage lending eased to 7.6 per cent from 7.9.