translate English to French: Over the medium term the Banque de France has been seeking an expansion of the money supply by 5%; in December 1997 the monetary aggregates M1 and M2 recorded annual growth rates of 6.6% and 7.8%, respectively, compared with 0.8% and 3.6% in 1996. Whereas the contraction of M3 observed in 1996 continued in the first months of 1997, M3 began to recover from the spring onwards, underpinned by the pick-up in economic growth and an upturn in the demand for narrow money (see Table 6 (a)).
En 1997, le markka finlandais s’est révélé l’une des monnaies les plus fortes du MCE et les taux d’intérêt à trois mois ont, dans l’ensemble, pu être maintenus légèrement en deçà des taux allemands correspondants.