Public sector drives expansion in domestic credit.
Monetary developments.
Compared to July 2019, money supply expanded in August 2019 by Afl. 66.9 million to Afl. 4,446.6 million, resulting from increases in both net domestic assets (+Afl. 41.1 million) and net foreign assets (+Afl. 25.7 million).
The rise in the domestic component of money supply is attributed to the rise in domestic credit (+Afl. 45.4 million). The increase in domestic credit was caused by expansions in the net claims of the banking sector on the public sector (+Afl. 32.1 million) and the claims of the banking sector on the private sector (+Afl. 13.3 million). The growth in the net claims of the banking sector on the public sector was caused mainly by an Afl. 31.9 million reduction in government deposits. In addition, housing mortgages and loans to enterprises increased by Afl. 8.8 million and Afl. 8.2 million, respectively, while consumer credit decreased by Afl. 3.7 million.
In August 2019, the net purchases of foreign exchange from the public (+Afl. 220.6 million) were larger than the net sales of foreign exchange to the public (-Afl. 194.9 million). The net purchases of foreign exchange were mainly related to foreign exchange revenue from tourism. Net sales of foreign exchange to the public resulted mostly from payments for goods imports, other investment and other services.
Inflation.
The consumer price index (CPI) for August 2019 noted a 4.0 percent increase year-over-year (YOY). The main contributor to this rise was the “Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages” component. The 12-month average inflation rate was 4.1 percent in August 2019, compared to 4.2 percent in July 2019.
Government.
Total government revenue amounted to Afl. 95.7 million in August 2019, Afl. 4.0 million more than for the same month of the previous year. This outcome resulted from a growth in tax revenue (+Afl. 9.4 million) and a decrease in nontax revenue (-Afl. 5.5 million).
The expansion in tax revenue was associated mainly with increases in profit tax (+Afl. 4.5 million), income from turnover tax (+Afl. 4.1 million), wage tax (+Afl. 2.0 million), income tax (+Afl. 1.5 million), and foreign exchange tax (+Afl. 1.3 million). In contrast, taxes on property decreased (-Afl. 3.2 million) in the month under review when compared to the same month of the previous year.
Tourism.
Please note that figures on tourism were not yet available at the time of publication of this bulletin.
For further information or a more detailed analysis, visit our website (www.cbaruba.org) or contact the Statistics Department of the Centrale Bank van Aruba, tel. +297-525-2100, e-mail statistics.department@cbaruba.org.
