Compared to April 2019, money supply contracted by Afl. 60.2 million to Afl. 4,402.8 million in May 2019, resulting from a drop in net foreign assets (-Afl. 152.2 million) and a rise in net domestic assets (+Afl. 92.0 million).
The drop in the net foreign assets of the banking sector resulted from net sales of foreign exchange to the public (-Afl. 324.9 million), mostly related to payments for goods, other investment and other services. This was largely offset by net purchases of foreign exchange from the public (+Afl. 172.7 million), mainly associated with foreign exchange revenue from tourism exports.
The upsurge in the domestic component of the money supply was due to increases in domestic credit (+Afl. 88.0 million) and non-credit related balance sheet items (+Afl. 4.0 million). The growth in domestic credit was caused by expansions in the claims of the banking sector on the private sector (+Afl. 78.2 million) and in the net claims of the banking sector on the public sector (+Afl. 9.8 million). The upturn in the claims of the banking sector on the private sector was attributed to increases in loans to enterprises (+Afl. 74.2 million) and housing mortgages (+Afl. 6.6 million), which were slightly offset by a decrease in consumer credit (-Afl. 2.7 million). The growth in the net claims of the banking sector on the public sector was caused by an increase of Afl. 85.1 million in the gross claims, which was largely offset by a rise of Afl. 75.3 million in government deposits.
Inflation
The consumer price index (CPI) for May 2019 noted a 4.8 percent increase year-over-year (YOY). The main contributors to this rise were the components “Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages” and “Communication”. Furthermore, by excluding the effect of food and energy , the core CPI grew by 2.9 percent (YOY). The 12-month average inflation rate was 4.4 percent in May 2019, compared to 4.3 percent in April 2019.
Government
Total government revenue amounted to Afl. 161.7 million in May 2019, Afl. 31.4 million less than the same month of the previous year. This outcome resulted from decreases in both nontax revenue (-Afl. 24.7 million) and tax revenue (-Afl. 6.8 million). The reduction in tax revenue was associated mainly with declines in income from profit tax (-Afl. 14.1 million), wage tax (-Afl. 6.6 million) and import duties (-Afl. 1.6 million). These downturns were largely offset by increases in income from turnover tax (+Afl. 9.5 million; introduction of the B.A.V.P as opposed to the same month in 2018), and land tax (+Afl. 5.2 million).
Tourism
Please note that figures on tourism were not yet available at the time of publication of this bulletin.
Centrale Bank van Aruba
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
