THE ECB STATISTICS PUBLISHED – MONEY, BANKING AND FINANCIAL MARKET STATISTICS

Each month, the ECB compiles and disseminates a wide range of monetary statistics and indicators, including the broad measure of the money supply known as “M3”, its components (banknotes and coins, short-term deposits and other items) and its counterpart assets, notably credit and longer-term liabilities. It also adjusts the monthly statistics to take account of seasonal factors, which makes it easier to analyse trends.

The monetary aggregates and their counterparts are calculated from the balance sheet of the monetary financial institution (MFI) sector, which is also published monthly. MFIs are institutions – such as banks – that receive deposits or issue very short-term securities and extend credit or invest in securities on their own account. This definition goes beyond that of “credit institutions” in European Community law (since it includes money market funds and some other types of institution).

The ECB and NCBs provide lists of financial institutions meeting the definition. The MFI balance sheet statistics are also used to calculate the minimum reserve requirements these institutions must fulfil, which is one of the tools of the ECB’s monetary policy operations.

The ECB also compiles harmonised statistics on interest rates paid and charged by MFIs in their business with households and enterprises in the euro area. It also publishes information on financial institutions outside the MFI sector, including non-money market investment funds, given the close connections between their activities and MFI business.

Moreover, the ECB compiles detailed monthly data on debt securities and quoted shares, covering issues, redemptions and amounts outstanding. It also publishes structural indicators on the banking sector and investment funds in the euro area, various indicators of financial soundness, and statistics on the volume and value of payments in the euro area. The ECB continues to develop common methodologies for calculating comparable statistical indicators for the euro area’s financial markets. This also helps to monitor financial market integration.