CURRENCY IN CIRCULATION

Comprises banknotes and coins in circulation that are commonly used to make payments. As from the start of 2002 currency in circulation in the euro area has included banknotes issued by the Eurosystem and by other monetary financial institutions (MFIs) as well as coins issued by the euro area central governments denominated in both euro and the legacy currencies, even though the euro has been the sole legal tender in all euro area countries since 1 March 2002. Banknotes and coins of legacy currencies ceased to be included in banknotes and coins in circulation as from 1 January 2003, both for Eurosystem financial reporting and for statistical purposes. Currency in circulation as included in M3 is a net concept, meaning that it refers only to those banknotes and coins in circulation that are held outside the MFI sector (i.e. currency held by MFIs or "vault cash" has been subtracted). Furthermore, it includes neither central banks' stocks of own banknotes (as they have not been put into circulation), nor commemo