Monthly monetary update
Every month, the Institute of International Monetary Research produces a series of notes analysing the latest monetary trends in the world's largest economies - the USA, China, Japan, India, the UK and the Eurozone - along with an accompanying video.
If you are looking for research from previous years, please go to our Monetary Updates Archive page.
Our most recent regular monthly money note (February 2026) can be accessed here and the latest video (January 2026 - there was no video in February) here.
Febuary 2026 Summary
Money growth has strengthened in the Eurozone and the UK in recent months, although the rate of increase is only moderate at about 5% a year. In the USA bank credit to the private sector seems to be gaining pace. Commercial banks have ample capital from good profit retentions and enjoy a benign regulatory environment. A boom in money market mutual funds is still under way, as they provide the Trump administration with an easy means to finance its enormous budget deficit. The “true” annualised rate of US broad money growth is now in the 6% - 9% vicinity, too high for the sustained delivery of on-target 2% inflation. Meanwhile money growth in the two big developing countries, China and India, has also increased recently and remains much higher than in the traditional advanced Western countries, and is fairly stable at the high rates. Policy-making in Japan is in some turmoil, as the new prime minister Takaichi Sanae wants to boost public spending despite a surge in bond yields. Overall, the message from the latest monetary trends in the leading countries is positive for global demand and output growth in 2026, and above-trend growth of demand and output looks increasingly likely. President Trump’s behaviour continues to bewilder, but other countries press ahead with free trade agreements and indicate a preference for a rule-based international order. 2026 should see slightly above-trend growth (of about 3½ % - 4%) in world output.