Eurozone broad money supply growth accelerated in August, while loans to private sector declined further, the European Central Bank said Thursday.

The broad monetary aggregate M3 grew 2.3 percent from a year ago, in line with forecast, after rising 2.2 percent in July.

Among the components of credit to the private sector, loans dropped 2 percent in August, compared with a 1.9 percent fall in the previous month.

At the same time, loans to households gained 0.1 percent, unchanged from the previous month. Similarly, the annual growth rate of lending for house purchase, the most important component of household loans, remained unchanged at 0.7 percent.