FRANKFURT (AFX) - Euro area M3 grew 7.5 pct year-on-year in April, up from a year-on-year growth rate of 7.3 pct in March. The three-month moving average of M3 year-on-year growth rates was 7.4 pct in the Feb-April period compared with a revised 7.6 pct in Jan-March. Market consensus for M3 growth was for a 7.1 pct rise year-on-year and for a 7.3 pct increase for the three-month moving average. The figures exclude non-resident holdings of money market fund shares and units, money market paper and short-term debt securities. They are also adjusted for seasonal and end-of-month calendar effects. The European Central Bank said the high level of the annual growth rate of M3 "still reflects in part the build up of liquidity in the autumn of 2001 when the economic and financial environment was characterised by great uncertainty." Credit to the private sector grew by 5.1 pct, down from a growth rate of 5.4 pct in March. Loans to the private sector, which account for the bulk of private sector credit, grew 5.5 pct year-on-year in April, the same growth rate as in March. Credit to general government grew 2.2 pct year-on-year, compared to 3.0 pct in March. Total credit to euro area residents -- which consists of private sector credit and credit to general government -- consequently grew 4.4 pct, down from 4.9 pct in March. The year-on-year rate of growth of currency in circulation and overnight deposits (M1) was 6.9 pct in April, up from 5.9 pct in March. Growth in other short-term deposits (M2-M1) was 6.0 pct, down from 6.5 pct in March. The growth rate of marketable instruments (M3-M2) was 14.3 pct in April, up from 14.1 pct in March.