The Centrale Bank van Suriname (CBvS) failed to meet its monetary target for the monetary base in the first half of 2026. At the end of June, the monetary base amounted to SRD 27.7 billion, while the target had been set at SRD 23.6 billion. According to the Central Bank, this resulted in a so-called underperformance of nearly SRD 5 billion. This is evident from the Financial Stability Report of October 2026.
The development points, according to the report, to persistent challenges in controlling the amount of Surinamese dollars in the economy.
The monetary base, also referred to as SRD-M0, consists of the money supply directly influenced by the Central Bank and forms an important part of monetary policy.
The CBvS is seeking to control the growth of this money supply in order to promote monetary stability.
Excess liquidity rises sharply
The report shows that excess liquidity within the banking sector had risen to SRD 3.9 billion by the end of June 2026.
This represented an increase of 82.2 percent compared with December 2025, when the amount stood at SRD 2.1 billion.
The increased liquidity means that commercial banks have more funds available than they are required to maintain on the basis of their obligations.
The Central Bank is seeking to withdraw part of these funds from the market in order to limit the growth of the money supply.
Monetary target also missed in 2025
The problem did not occur only in 2026.
According to the report, the CBvS also fell short of its target for the monetary base at the end of December 2025. The deviation then amounted to SRD 4.5 billion.
For the full year 2025, average underperformance came to SRD 3.5 billion.
The Central Bank cites, among other things, the decline in government balances as a result of government expenditure and changes in outstanding open market operations as factors that contributed to the development of excess liquidity.
At the same time, foreign exchange auctions, a larger quantity of banknotes held by the public and higher reserve requirements helped curb the increase.
Central Bank seeks to withdraw money from circulation
To control excess liquidity, the CBvS conducts open market operations. Under these operations, commercial banks can temporarily place funds in term deposits.
In addition, the Central Bank issues certificates through which funds are locked in for a specified period.
In the first six months of 2026, the CBvS conducted a total of 26 open market operations. These involved 25 term-deposit auctions and one issuance of Central Bank certificates for the retail segment.
At the term-deposit auctions, commercial banks jointly offered SRD 30.1 billion, of which SRD 27.7 billion was accepted by the CBvS.
For the certificates, the subscription volume amounted to SRD 2.1 billion, of which SRD 2 billion was allocated.
Controlling the money supply remains a point of attention
According to the report, a restrictive monetary policy remains necessary to control developments in the monetary base.
The Central Bank indicates that, if necessary, it can deploy additional instruments to absorb excess liquidity.
The report makes clear that the financial sector remained largely stable, but that growth in the money supply and the persistent deviations from monetary targets remain important points of attention.
