At the end of March 2017, total liquid assets M4 stood at HRK 290.9bn, having fallen by HRK 2.5bn or 0.8% from the end of the previous month. A review of the structure of the monetary aggregate M4 reflects that both its components decreased from a month earlier, money (M1) by 0.9% and quasi-money by 0.8%. The annual growth in M4 slowed down slightly in March and, excluding the effects of the exchange rate changes, accounted for 4.2%, in contrast to the 4.6% at the end of February (Figure 1). M1 continued its strong growth (21.1% in March, Table 1), primarily thanks to the increase in deposit money, while quasi-money was 1.8% lower than at the end of the same month a year ago. This was aided predominantly by the decrease in household foreign currency deposits. March developments in monetary aggregates were affected by the inflow from the international issue of government eurobonds, worth EUR 1.25bn, of which a share was also subscribed by domestic investors. The slowdown in the annual growth in M4 was achieved amid stronger growth in net foreign assets of monetary institutions (20.2%) which was primarily a result of the inflow of funds from a foreign bond issue to the government's foreign currency account with the CNB and of a decline in net domestic assets of the monetary system (–3.5%) that resulted from the decrease in banks' net claims on the central government amid the increase in the government's foreign currency account.

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 220.9bn at the end of March, having risen by HRK 1.4bn or 0.7% from the end of February. Placements continued to grow on an annual level and, based on transactions, their growth in March reached 0.8% (Figure 2). Placements to non-financial corporations grew by 0.7% on an annual level, while the growth of placements to households accelerated to 1.4%. In nominal terms, however, placements at the end of March 2017 were again lower than in the same month of the previous year (1.7%). This reflects 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 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-March 2017, see:
Central bank (CNB)
Other monetary financial institutions