The CBBH opened its doors for business on August 11, 1997 with monetary liabilities of DM 132,584,030.72 million and an equal amount of foreign currency assets. Over ten months later, by the end of June 1998, the CBBH’s monetary liabilities were DM 123 million, a modest decline. By the end of 1998, however, the size of the central bank had jumped to DM 254 million, almost double its opening size. It has grown very rapidly ever since and by the end of 2002, the CBBH’s foreign currency assets stood at DM 2.5 billion—a truly astounding growth.