UK money supply and lending lower than expected in February

Broad money, M4 excluding intermediate other financial corporations, increased by £7.3 billion in February with positive flows for all sectors. Together, flows for households and private non-financial corporations (PNFCs) were similar to last month.

Sterling lending to the UK private sector excluding intermediate other financial corporations, M4Lex, increased by £9.6 billion in February. There was positive net lending to all sectors, with lending to households and PNFCs broadly similar to last month.

Lending secured on dwellings rose by £3.5 billion in February, similar to the flows in recent months.

Approvals of loans secured on dwellings fell slightly in February. This was the first decline since August 2016, but at 125,622 they remain above the recent six-month average.

The net flow of consumer credit was £1.4 billion in February. The twelve-month growth rate remained at 10.5%.

Loans to non-financial businesses decreased by £1.8 billion in February, compared to the recent average increase of £0.9 billion. Loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) increased by £0.6 billion in February.