At the end of February 2017, total liquid assets M4 stood at HRK 293.4bn, having fallen by HRK 2.5bn or 0.9% from the end of January. The monthly decrease contributed to the mild slowdown in the annual growth in this broadest monetary aggregate to 3.3% at the end of February, from 3.6% a month before. Excluding the effects of exchange rate changes, the annual growth in M4 was faster than the nominal growth, totalling 4.6% at the end of February, almost the same as in January. The annual growth in M4 continued to be achieved amid strong growth in net foreign assets of monetary institutions (11.6%) and a decline in net domestic assets of the monetary system (-0.5%). As regards the structure of M4, money M1 increased by 1.1% at the end of February from the end of the previous month and by a noticeable 21.1% from the same month of 2016 (Figure 1). On the other hand, quasi-money (the second component of M4) decreased on a monthly level, also registering a fall on the annual level for the second month in succession (-2.3% in February). This was aided predominantly by the nominal fall in the kuna value of foreign currency deposits due to the appreciation of the kuna against the euro.

Figure 1 Monetary aggregates annual rates of change	Figure 2 Placements annual rates of change based on transactions
Source: CNB.

Total placements of monetary institutions to domestic sectors (except the government) stood at HRK 219.4bn at the end of February 2017, having risen by HRK 0.1bn or 0.1% from the end of January 2017. Placements continued to grow on an annual level (based on transactions), but this growth slowed down slightly, to 0.8% at the end of February 2017 from 1.0% in 2016 (Figure 2). This was to the greatest extent a result of the strong slowdown in the growth of placements to non-financial enterprises, primarily due to the base effect (0.3%), while the annual growth of placements to households went up to 1.0%. In nominal terms, placements were 3.1% lower at the end of February 2017 than at the end of last-year's February, reflecting a partial write-off of household loans indexed to the Swiss franc, the sale of non-performing placements of banks and the strengthening of the kuna against the euro which reduced the kuna value of the placements indexed to the euro.

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

¹ The sum total of asset 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 Growth of 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 excluding the effects of exchange rate changes, securities price adjustments 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 end-February 2017, see:
Central bank (CNB)
Other monetary financial institutions