At the end of July, total liquid assets (M4) stood at HRK 355.5bn, having increased HRK 4.2bn (1.2%) from the end of June (Table 1), primarily as a result of an increase in money (HRK 3.6bn) and to a lesser extent quasi-money. The growth in M4 is the result of a sharp increase in net domestic assets (NDA) of the monetary system, while net foreign assets (NFA) declined. NDA grew as a result of CNB's purchase of government securities in the nominal amount of HRK 4.1bn, which led to an increase in net claims of monetary institutions on the central government. The annual growth in M4 slowed down slightly to 7.4% (transaction-based) from the end of the previous month. The annual growth in money (M1) slowed down to 17.3% (Figure 1) and that of quasi-money to 0.9% (transaction-based).

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

Total placements of monetary institutions to domestic sectors (excluding the central government) rose by HRK 0.7bn (transaction-based) in July and stood at HRK 234.3bn at the end of the month. The monthly increase in placements in July was mostly due to the growth in placements to households but also to the growth in placements to other financial institutions while placements to corporates fell. Housing loans thus rose by HRK 0.7bn or 1.2% in July, mostly driven by Government's housing loans subsidy programme and to a lesser extent by borrowing for the reconstruction of housing units affected by the earthquake. General-purpose cash loans held steady during that period. On an annual level, at the end of July, the growth in total placements accelerated to 3.9% (Figure 2). This acceleration was due to the base effect of the sale of claims associated with the Agrokor Group in July last year, which also increased the annual rate of growth in placements to non-financial corporations from 4.1% in June to 5.2% in July (Table 2). As regards households, following stagnation in growth in the previous two months, the annual growth of placements to households accelerated only slightly to 3.9% in July. The growth in housing loans thus accelerated from 7.1% in June to 8.0% in July, while the growth in general-purpose cash loans continued to slow down on an annual level (from 3.8% in June to 2.8% in July).

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

¹ 1 The sum total of asset items 2.2 do 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 (excluding 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 July 2020, see:

Central bank (CNB)
Other monetary financial institutions