At the end of August 2018, total liquid assets (M4) stood at HRK 324.1bn, up by HRK 7.8bn or 2.5% from the end of July (Table 1). The monthly increase in the widest monetary aggregate was due to the seasonal rise in net foreign assets (NFA) of the monetary system, primarily in the net foreign assets of credit institutions. On the other hand, net domestic assets (NDA) of the system dropped in August, mainly as a result of a drop in net claims on the central government. Placements to the central government stagnated, while government deposits grew. Observed on an annual basis, the growth in total liquid assets (M4) remained at 5.2% in August 2018, exchange rate changes excluded (Figure 1). As regards the components of total liquid assets, the annual growth in money (M1) slowed down somewhat to 19.6%, while the annual fall in quasi-money decelerated to 1.2%.

Figure 1 Monetary aggregates year-on-year rate of change	Figure 2 Placements year-on-year rate of change, transaction-based
Source: CNB.

Total placements of monetary institutions to domestic sectors (excluding the government) stagnated in August (transaction-based), standing at HRK 222.2bn at the month's end, while their annual growth rate accelerated slightly to 4.2% (transaction-based, Figure 2). The annual growth in household placements continued to accelerate, reaching 6.0% at the end of August, with two thirds of the increase stemming from the demand for general-purpose cash loans, whose annual growth picked up to 11.2%. At the same time, the annual rise in corporate placements remained unchanged, standing at 2.6% (Table 2). As for the nominal stock of total placements, their annual growth stood at 1.6% at end-August and was significantly slower than the transaction-based growth, primarily as a result of the sale of non-performing placements.

Table 1 Summary consolidated balance sheet of monetary institutions
in billion HRK and %

¹ The sum total of liability items 2.2 to 2.8 of Bulletin Table B1: Consolidated balance sheet of monetary financial institutions.
² The sum total of liability items 2 to 5 of Bulletin Table B1: Consolidated balance sheet of monetary financial institutions.

Source: CNB.

Table 2 Placements (except the central government) and main components
in billion HRK and %

¹ In addition to placements to households and corporates, they also include placements to the local government and other financial institutions.
² The transactions show changes that exclude the effects of exchange rate changes, securities price adjustments, reclassification and write-off of placements, including the sale of placements in the amount of their value adjustment.

Source: CNB.

For detailed information on monetary statistics as at August 2018, see:

Central bank (CNB)
Other monetary financial institutions