Other: Money supply growth still strong, but lending slows

In the UK, M4 money supply grew by 1% M/M and 12.8% Y/Y in March. As such, money supply growth remains at very elevated levels, which will raise some concerns among the monetarists within the MPC on the medium to longer-term inflation outlook. Sterling lending on the other hand slowed unexpectedly from 20.6 B in February to 12.7 B in March. According to the major British Banking Groups, net lending increased by GBP 9.7 B in March compared to an average of 11.6 B over the previous six months. The largest part of the increase came from net mortgage lending which rose by 5.1 B, unsecured borrowing even fell 0.2 B. According to the BBA, mortgage lending should ease further in the months ahead due to higher interest rates.