Broad money growth would have been even faster but for a diversion of liquidity into sterling bank deposits of overseas residents – monetary aggregates include deposits of domestic residents only. Overseas deposits grew by £49 bn in the year to February, equivalent to 2.6% of non-financial M4. The recent rise is the largest since before the GFC, when liquidation of the overhang of foreign balances triggered a sharp fall in sterling – chart 5.