Total liquid assets (M4) grew by HRK 1.7bn (0.5%) in December 2018, standing at HRK 324.0bn at the end of the month (Table 1). The monthly increase in this widest monetary aggregate was due to the strong growth of net domestic assets (NDA) of the monetary system, which was partly offset by a fall in net foreign assets (NFA) of credit institutions. The NDA growth largely reflected an increase in monetary institutions' net claims on the central government. On an annual level, the growth of total liquid assets (M4) slowed down only slightly to 6.1% in December 2018, net of exchange rate effects (Figure 1). In the structure of M4, the annual growth of money (M1) decelerated to 20.7%, while the annual decrease in quasi-money slowed down to 1.8%.

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) decreased by HRK 0.5bn (based on transaction) in December as a result of a decline in loans to non-financial corporations, or, more precisely, to the shipbuilding industry, due to the activation of general government guarantees. This had an effect on the annual dynamics: the growth of placements to non-financial corporations decelerated to 1.9% in December and the growth of total placements to 4.4% (Figure 2). The annual growth of placements to the household sector remained at 6.2%, the level reached at the end of November (Table 2). The annual growth of housing loans continued to accelerate, reflecting, among other things, the effects of the programme of subsidised housing loans, while the annual growth of general-purpose cash loans slowed down somewhat. The annual growth of the nominal stock of total placements stood at 2.0% in December, remaining lower than the transaction-based growth, primarily as a result of the sale of non-performing placements.

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 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 impairment.

Source: CNB.

For detailed information on monetary statistics as at December 2018, see:

Central bank (CNB)
Other monetary financial institutions