February 28, 2003	Friday	Zul Hijjah 26, 1423

FRANKFURT, Feb 27: Growth of the euro-zone money supply, which the European Central Bank views as a key indicator of future inflation, picked up unexpectedly in January, data published by the European Central Bank on Thursday showed.

The ECB calculated that M3 money supply grew by 7.4 per cent on a 12-month basis in January, compared with 6.8 per cent in December.

M3 covers cash, overnight deposits, other short-term deposits, repurchase agreements, shares and units in money market funds and debt securities with a maturity of up to two years.

The guardian of the euro closely monitors developments in the money supply when deciding the appropriate level of interest rates because it sees a link between the level of liquidity in the economy and future inflation.—AFP