Argentina October M2 Money Supply Expands 31.2% On Year

From WSJ

BUENOS AIRES (Dow Jones)--Argentina's money supply expanded 31.2% last month in nominal terms from a year ago, according to the country's central bank.

In its monthly monetary report published late Thursday, the Central Bank of Argentina said its benchmark M2 measure of money supply averaged 301.05 billion pesos ($70.5 billion) in October.

Adjusted for inflation, the money supply increased 19.4% from a year ago, according to the bank.

The central bank's target for M2 expansion this year in real terms is 27.9%, following a 28.1% increase in 2010.

M2 expanded 0.9% from September in nominal terms.

Lending to the private sector rose almost 52% nominally on the year to ARS227.6 billion at the end of October, with commercial and consumer loans posting hefty increases.

"Loans associated with retail activity continued to be the main driver of growth," the bank said.

Argentina has been enjoying a consumption boom, thanks to high inflation, an economy that is on track to expand 8% this year, and unemployment that is at multi-year lows.

Argentina's boom is unsustainable since it is driven by monetary expansion.  The economic bust is inevitable.