Total liquid assets (M4) stood at HRK 319.5bn at the end of February 2019, down HRK 1.9bn or 0.6% from the end of January 2019 (Table 1). The monthly decrease in this broadest monetary aggregate was predominantly driven by a fall in net domestic assets (NDA) of the monetary system (caused by the growth in the deposits of the general government) and to a smaller degree by the decrease in net foreign assets (NFA). On an annual level, the growth in total liquid assets slowed down substantially in February, to 4.8%, net of exchange rate effects (Figure 1). As regards the components of M4, the annual growth in money (M1) decelerated to 17.1%, primarily due to the slowdown in demand deposits, while the annual fall in quasi-money accelerated to 1.2% at the end of February (net of exchange rate effects).

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 (excluding the government) went up by HRK 1.2bn in February (transaction-based), ending the month at HRK 224.9bn. The annual growth of total placements continued to accelerate slightly, totalling 5.0% in February. Lending to non-financial corporations went up by 2.8% at the end of February from the same month the year before, while lending to households increased by 6.6% (Table 2). The acceleration in the annual growth of general-purpose cash loans (12.9%) contributed to stronger growth of placements to households, while housing loans slowed down to 3.7% at an annual basis. The annual growth of the nominal stock of total placements (3.5%) remained under the influence of the sale of non-performing placements and continued to be noticeably lower than the transaction-based growth.

Table 1 Summary 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 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 February 2019, see:

Central bank (CNB)
Other monetary financial institutions