This is 1.1 percentage points lower than over the corresponding period 12 months earlier and close to the reference value of 4½%. The ECB focuses on the three-month average of annual M3 growth rates since monetary data can sometimes be distorted. In March 2001, annual M3 growth was 5.0%.
While this was 0.3 percentage points higher than in February, the March figures should not be read as a change in the underlying trend. In fact, if calendar effects were filtered out, in March 2001 M3 growth would have been lower.