FRANKFURT, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Money supply growth in the

euro zone slowed in December, the European Central Bank said on

Monday.

The ECB gave the following percentage changes in growth,

seasonally adjusted:

DEC NOV Prior

M3 annual growth rate 3.3 3.8 (3.8)

M3 3-month moving avg 12-mo growth 3.7 3.4 (3.4)

Annual total credit growth 0.4 0.3 (0.2)

Annual credit growth private sector -0.8 -1.6 (-1.6)

-- of which loans -0.7 -0.8 (-0.8)

Breakdown of Loans, pct annual growth rate:

Loans to households 0.7 0.8 (0.7)

-- consumer credit -2.9 -2.9 (-3.1)

-- for home purchases 1.3 1.2 (1.2)

Loans to non-financial corporations -1.3 -1.5 (-1.8)

Monthly loan flow to firms (bln eur) -22 -7 (-4)

FORECAST:

A Reuters poll showed 27 economists on average expected

12-month M3 growth of 3.9 percent, with forecasts ranging from

3.1 percent to 4.0 percent. For private loan growth, economists

on average expected a contraction of 0.7 percent, with a

forecast range of -0.9 percent to -0.5 percent.

For a copy of the report, please click on

http://www.ecb.int/press/pr/stats/md/html/index.en.html

NOTES: The data are adjusted to exclude holdings of money

market fund shares or units by residents outside the euro area

and non-resident holdings of money market paper and debt

securities with an initial maturity of up to two years.

Previously reported data from the prior month are in

brackets.

The ECB has set a reference rate of 4.5 percent for the

three-month moving average of annual money supply growth, above

which the bank sees dangers to medium-term price stability.

(Reporting by Eva Kuehnen)

Keywords: ECB/M3

(eva.kuehnen@thomsonreuters.com)(49 69 75651244)(Reuters Messaging: eva.kuehnen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)

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