In March 2018, total liquid assets (M4) fell by HRK 0.7bn (0.2%) and at the end of the month stood at HRK 303.8bn (Table 1). The monthly fall in this broadest monetary aggregate was driven by a fall in net foreign assets (NFA) of the monetary system, in particular the fall in net foreign assets of credit institutions. By contrast, the system's net domestic assets (NDA) rose in March, mostly driven by growth in credit institutions' net claims on the central government. On an annual level, the growth in total liquid assets (M4) accelerated in March of 2018 to 5.2%, net of exchange rate effects (Figure 1). As regards the components of total liquid assets, the annual growth in money (M1) stood at a high 23.8%, while quasi-money fell by 3.3% from the same month of the previous year.

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) rose in March (based on transactions) and stood at HRK 218.9bn at the end of the month, while their annual growth rate rose to 3.1% (based on transactions, Figure 2). The annual growth of placements to households and corporates continued to accelerate steadily, reaching 4.6% and 3.2%, respectively, at the end of March (Table 2). By contrast, a pronounced annual fall in placements to other financial institutions, which stood at -23.0% in March, continued to have a negative effect on the annual growth dynamics of total placements. As regards the nominal stock of total placements, at the end of March 2018 they were down by 0.9% from the end of the same month of the previous year, mainly the result of the sale of non-performing placements.

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

¹The 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 net of the changes in the exchange rate, price adjustments of securities, loan reclassification and write-offs, including the sale of placements to the amount of their value adjustments.

Source: CNB.

For detailed information on monetary statistics as at end-March 2018, see:

Central bank (CNB)
Other monetary financial institutions